


Softcore (Joarchie one-shots)

by HotCat37



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, Death, F/F, F/M, Fluff, I love this ship so fucking much y'all have no idea, M/M, Making Out, Multi, Panic Attacks, Sad Archie Andrews, Sad Joaquin DeSantos, Smoking, Some of the tags are really dark but I swear most one-shots are pretty cute, There might be smut but who really knows lol
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-09
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:54:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 23,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22631398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HotCat37/pseuds/HotCat37
Summary: I'm a total sucker for this ship and the tag is dying, so here's some one-shots I wrote on Wattpad. Title based off of that one The Neighborhood song
Relationships: Archie Andrews/Joaquin DeSantos, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Comments: 25
Kudos: 45





	1. Cuddle Buddy

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so I'm not a very detailed writer (English isn't my first language) but I still tried my best to capture the character's personalities well enough. Also Ricky will often be mentioned throughout the one-shots and often makes an appearance because I thought it was odd that Joaquin never mentioned anything about his brother in the show.

**_AU: Takes place in Season 1, at Jughead's birthday party. Kevin and Joaquin are dating, Archie is single._ **

Joaquin wasn't a very talkative person, Archie noted. When Kevin introduced his boyfriend to Archie, all Joaquin really did was give the ginger a small nod.

Joaquin's piercing blue eyes darted around the room, it looked as though he wanted to be there as much as Jughead did.

Which basically meant: _**Not at all.**_ ****

Archie didn't really blame him, though. Parties were always awkward if the birthday boy himself didn't even _want_ a party in the first place.

Guess Betty just missed that part.

Anyhow, Archie had to admit he was ridiculously invested in Joaquin DeSantos. Archie just assumed it was because he'd always felt an immediate connection with mysterious people. It's what drove him to Veronica the minute she walked into Pop's.

And it's what drove him towards Joaquin and Kevin when Betty yelled _"Hide!"_

Kevin looked irritated with him, probably because now Jughead would immediately know where they were hiding. Archie Andrews was kinda hard to miss, after all.

Joaquin didn't look annoyed, he just watched Archie with slight curiosity in those hypnotizing eyes of his.

_............eww, no. The guy's dating Kevin, back off Archie._

It was that thought that caused Archie to basically stumble over his own words. He felt his face flush as he stuttered out a:

"U-uhm......."

"What??" Kevin whisper-yelled, raising a confused eyebrow in Archie's direction.

Maybe Archie could just blame his behavior on the alcohol. It was partially true, though. He _did_ have a few drinks before Jug arrived. The front door opened up, and then everyone was yelling _"Surprise!"_ as Archie took in Jughead's less-than-pleased expression.

Honestly, Archie felt bad for his best friend. 

Betty joyfully walked up to him, giving him a peck on the cheek that seemingly made him relax a little bit. He nodded towards Veronica before strolling over to the trio that consisted of Kevin, Archie and Joaquin.

"Hey, Kevin......." Jughead quietly said as Kevin pulled him into a quick hug.

"Jug! Happy birthday!" Kevin grinned at him as he pulled back.

"Thanks." Was Jughead's dry answer.

"Juggie!" Archie cheered, trapping his bestie into a tight hug.

"Are you drunk?" Jughead snorted, lightly hugging the ginger back.

"No." Was Archie's upbeat reply.

"Right. I saw you from out the window, Arch. You're not great at hiding, are you?" Jughead commented, sounding amused as he pulled back.

"Sorry......." Archie slurred, stumbling on his feet a bit.

Archie could hear Joaquin snicker behind him. It was a surprising, yet adorable sound. Surprising, because well, Joaquin really wasn't a laughing type of person. Archie's pretty sure this was the first time he'd ever heard the guy laugh. And it was adorable because it got Archie's heart beating even harder in his chest. This time he couldn't blame the flush in his face on the alcohol. 

Joaquin's poker face returned as soon as Jughead approached him. The two shared a short handshake before Jug left, heading towards the kitchen. 

"You alright, Archie?" Kevin asked, throwing an arm around Archie's shoulder to prevent him from crashing down.

"Yeeeees." Archie simply replied, looking at Kevin through hooded, unfocused eyes.

Archie Andrews got drunk easily, Joaquin realized. It was painfully obvious with how his eyes looked unfocused, how he slurred basically every word, and not to mention the way he held his cup. It constantly looked like whatever was inside there was about to spill over any second now. 

"Hey, Joaquin, can you bring Archie upstairs real quick? I promised B and V I'd help them with the cake." Kevin offered Joaquin his sweetest smile, the other looked unimpressed.

"Sure, Preppy." Joaquin shrugged, slipping an arm around Archie's back.

"Thanks, babe!" Kevin grinned, kissing the other boy before heading towards Betty and Veronica.

Joaquin must've noticed the way Archie frowned, because he let out a chuckle as he led the drunk teenager towards the stairs.

"Jealous, Andrews?" Joaquin mockingly grinned at him.

"As if......" Archie huffed, sloppily attempting to climb the stairs with Joaquin still at his side.

"Easy there, Amigo. Your girlfriend's gonna kill me if I let you fall down these stairs." Joaquin said, offering some more support as they reached the top of the stairs.

Archie blindly assumed Joaquin meant Veronica, so he shook his head slowly.

"Ronnie's not my girlfriend." He simply stated, puffing out a breath when the two of them reached the bedroom.

"Oh yeah? Sure seems like she is." Joaquin shrugged once again, lightly shoving the ginger so he would fall backwards onto the bed.

"Naaah, she's way outta my league......." Archie dramatically sighed, putting an arm over his face.

"I think you guys deserve each other."

There was a moment of silence. Archie had removed his arm to look at Joaquin, who was awkwardly lingering at the end of the bed, unsure what to do next.

"You're pretty......." It came out of his mouth before Archie was even able to process what he just said.

Joaquin laughed again, it sounded just as adorable as the first time Archie heard it. He suddenly felt proud at the thought that he was the one that made cold-hearted Joaquin laugh.

_Suck on that, Kevin Keller._

Oh no, now he felt guilty again.

"So are you, Andrews." Joaquin stated with an amused shake of his head.

"Get over here......." Archie muttered, patting the spot next to him.

"I don't think that's such a good idea."

"C'mooooon........." Archie whined, trying to kick Joaquin's leg.

Joaquin rolled his eyes, and with an over-exaggerated sigh, he moved to lie down besides the brown-eyed ginger. Almost immediately Archie's arms wrapped around him, Joaquin squirmed a bit at the touch.

"Didn't think you were such a teddy bear." Joaquin flatly noted, looking down at the other teen rather irritated.

"You're soft." Archie offered, as if that was his justification.

"You're ridicilous." Is all Joaquin had to say when he awkwardly patted Archie's back.

Archie just grunted, and just then, Joaquin heard footsteps coming closer.

"Joaquin, how did- _oh...._ Looking cozy there." Kevin commented with raised eyebrows as he took in the sight before him.

"You gotta help me, Preppy. This guy's strong like a damn bear."

"Alright, Andrews, let go of my man. Ask Vegas to be your cuddle buddy or something!" Kevin laughed, gently moving Archie's tightly wrapped arms.

Archie made a noise of protest, but allowed Joaquin to get out of his hold. Kevin and Joaquin went back downstairs, a worried-looking Veronica approached them immediately.

"How's Archie doing?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"He's looking for a cuddle buddy, V." Kevin cooed with a wink that made Veronica's cheeks get a little more pink.

"Really, now? Then I suppose I'll have to-"

"I'll just go get the guy's dog." Joaquin casually interrupted her, which earned him confused looks from both of the teens.

"Aren't you afraid of dogs, though?" Kevin looked a bit suspicious of his boyfriend.

"Afraid s'kind of a big overstatement. I just don't like 'em." Joaquin calmly corrected him.

"So what's motivating you now to get Vegas for Archie?" Veronica wanted to know, curiosity flashing in her eyes.

Joaquin didn't really know. For some reason he didn't want Veronica to be Archie's 'cuddle buddy', even though she was pretty nice. 

"I'm just bein' nice, I guess." Joaquin decided that was the easiest excuse.

Neither Veronica nor Kevin seemed very convinced by his answer, so Joaquin just headed towards the garage on his own, he'd last seen Archie's dumb dog running around there.

He opened the door, only to see Jughead sitting on the couch, petting Vegas who was obediently sitting besides him. Joaquin felt kinda bad for the guy. He clearly didn't want to have a party.

"Hey, man." Jughead greeted him.

"Yo. Mind if I borrow Vegas for a bit? Your bestie's drunk and in need of a cuddle buddy." Joaquin shot Vegas a cold look, the dog seemed absolutely unbothered by it.

"Oooh, since when do you care 'bout Archie?" Jughead teasingly asked, removing his hand from Vegas' ear which caused the dog to whine.

The resemblance Archie held to his dog was almost creepy.

"Would you believe me if I said I'm just being nice?" 

"No." Jughead said with a laugh.

"Nevermind, then....." Joaquin grumbled, trying to get Vegas to come towards him.

"C'mon, dog, get over here......." Joaquin clapped in his hands, but Vegas just remained in his seat next to Jughead.

"You gotta be nice to 'im, Joaquin. He's a sensitive little guy." Jughead said the last part in a baby-talk voice as he continued hugging and petting the happy dog.

_God, Joaquin hated dogs so much. They were such attention hoes._

"Go on, boy. Follow Uncle Joaquin!" Jughead ordered the dog, urging it towards the raven-haired teen.

Joaquin shuddered as the animal ran towards him, sniffling at his legs with a wagging tail.

"Thanks, pal. I'll see you around." Joaquin put up his hand as a goodbye before opening the door for Vegas, who excitedly ran out of the garage.

Suddenly, though, Vegas stopped running. In the middle of Archie's yard he stood still and turned around to face Joaquin. 

It was mildly terrifying to him. The fucking thing looked as if he was about to maul him to death.

Then Vegas gave him a look that Joaquin recognized immediately. The same look Ricky always gave him when he was too tired to walk.

** _The motherfucker wanted to be carried._ **

Knowing how stubborn dogs were, Joaquin allowed himself to groan loudly in frustration before he walked up to the little prick. Vegas excitedly barked as Joaquin lifted him up. He cringed once he came to realize that Vegas was way heavier than he looked.

"Why am I even doing this.....?" Joaquin grumbled to himself as he headed back towards the house with Vegas nuzzling against him.

People were aww'ing when he entered the room. Kevin and Veronica even took out their phones to snap a few pictures. Chuck, who Joaquin didn't remember seeing before, offered him a taunting grin. Joaquin just glared back at him as he walked up the stairs.

Archie Andrews was almost asleep when Joaquin reached his room. He put Vegas down, who immediately jumped onto the bed next to his owner. Archie mumbled something Joaquin couldn't quite make out as he threw his arm around the dog, cradling him close.

"Thanks, Joaquin........" Is all he could make out with how slurred Archie's voice was.

_And yeah, shit. Joaquin would never admit it out loud, but that did get his heart beating a little faster._


	2. Safe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, considering that disaster of a school day, Joaquin didn't think anybody could blame him for pushing Archie Andrews against the wired fence behind the Drive-In when it was already dark outside.

_**AU: Takes place in Season 2, Joaquin never went to juvenile and transferred to Riverdale High. Archie and Joaquin are dating but not openly.** _

Today had kind of sucked for the both of them. Cheryl, for whatever reason, had decided it would be a good idea to make Kevin cast Joaquin in Carrie The Musical. It wasn't even clear what character he was supposed to be playing. Just a background dancer with occasionally a few lines to sing.

Joaquin hated singing, or at least, doing it in front of a crowd. Wait, scrap that. Joaquin hated doing literally _anything_ in front of more than 3 people, everything except fighting. Archie understood how he felt.

Not because he related, per se, but he grew up with a kid like Jughead being his best friend. It wasn't hard for Archie to notice when certain people preferred to be out of the spotlight. It didn't help that there was still a bit of awkward tension between Joaquin and Kevin.

Their break-up had taken place months ago, 3 at least, but there was still bad blood going on. That wasn't even the worst for Joaquin today. He'd been pulled out of class in the middle of an important math test because his little brother Ricky had gotten into a pretty bad fight at the local middle school. It wasn't easy to tell for an outsider, but Archie knew Joaquin was pretty stressed about the whole thing.

The fact that Joaquin's parents hadn't been able to pick up Ricky also got Archie concerned. But well, he hadn't had the best day himself either. Reggie tackled him at football practice, **pretty. damn. hard.** To the point Archie had literally felt a burning pain in his leg for the following 4 hours of school. Archie seeing the quite frankly, _terrifying_ results of his chemistry test hadn't done him any good either.

Joaquin had been frustrated the entire day long. He couldn't touch Archie in school, because, well, to everyone in the entire school him and Archie were basically strangers to each other. Strangers that occasionally held hands under the lunch table at the rare occasion of them even sitting at the same table. And Ricky, God that little fucker would be the end of him some day. A kid in his class had called him _"Southside thrash"_ which Ricky had taken a little too personally. He pounced the kid, and both of them ended up with some noticeable bruises.

Neither of them had said anything at all the entire ride to Joaquin's trailer. Not that you could say much while driving a motorbike anyways, but the silence had still been deafening.

"Don't let people get to you like that, dumbass. You gotta be the bigger man and ignore their bullshit." Was the first thing Joaquin had to say once they reached the trailer. "Like you're one to talk........." Ricky had muttered in response.

_Touché._

Joaquin had asked FP to watch over Ricky for the rest of the day. Obviously he didn't fully trust the guy, considering both of them had kinda helped covering up Jason Blossom's murder. But Joaquin knew that FP Jones would never hurt a kid, and when the guy wasn't getting drunk during the early morning hours, he was actually a pretty damn good babysitter.

So yeah, considering that disaster of a school day, Joaquin didn't think anybody could blame him for pushing Archie Andrews against the wired fence behind the Drive-In when it was already dark outside.

The ginger eagerly kissed him, just as desperate for some boyfriend time as Joaquin was. French-kissing wasn't uncommon either, especially after days like that. Joaquin locked hands with one of Archie's and pinned it next to the brown-eyed teen's head, his other hand holding onto Archie's muscular hip.

"I really missed you today......" Archie muttered in between the kisses, panting against Joaquin's lips.

"Me too." Joaquin quickly agreed, mouth moving from Archie's lips to his neck.

Archie went lax as Joaquin sucked a bruise into his neck, he closed his eyes and just focused on the feeling of it.

He suddenly felt kind of overwhelmed. Both from stress and pleasure, he assumed. But Archie felt.....safe with Joaquin. Protected, actually. And usually he didn't enjoy feeling like that.

 _HE_ was the protector, after all. Always feeling the need to shield his loved ones from any danger, even if it meant he'd get hurt himself in the process. Oddly enough, it was different with Joaquin. He didn't mind Joaquin taking control, or him being the more protective one out of the two of them.

He liked it even, maybe craved it a bit sometimes. So, with a new feeling of appreciation and love for his boyfriend, Archie urged Joaquin even closer with the hand that wasn't pinned.

"J-Joaquin......." Archie gasped as the raven-haired teen moved to the other side of his neck.

"I got you, Andrews." Joaquin muttered, and it sounded like a promise in Archie's ears.

"I love you......." That just kinda flapped out in the heat of the moment, Archie was honestly even shocked at himself for blurting that out.

Joaquin noticeably froze up at the words, even though he pretended like he hadn't heard them only a second later.

Okay, he had to be careful here. Archie didn't wanna scare Joaquin off by making him say something he wasn't ready to yet. Kevin Keller apparently was one to drop the 'I love you bomb' rather quickly in a relationship. Or well, rumor had it he did. Maybe that's one of the reasons Joaquin and Kevin's relationship hadn't worked out?

"You don't gotta say it back, y'know....... I understand." Archie cautiously started off, gently squeezing his boyfriend's shoulder.

"Sorry......." Joaquin muttered, burying his head into the crook of Archie's neck like he was ashamed of himself.

"Hey, don't be." Archie frowned, lightly pulling Joaquin back by his hair.

Joaquin's eyes barely met his, he was obviously embarrassed about not saying it back. But Archie didn't want him to be.

"I get it, okay? You don't gotta say it 'till you're ready to. I'll wait for you, I'm not goin' anywhere......." Archie assured him, softly kissing the other teen.

"Yeah......thanks." Archie managed to get a half-smile out of Joaquin, who visibly relaxed more at his words.

They spend a few more minutes just kissing against the fence, until at last, Archie spoke up once more.

"I do mean it, though."

"Mean what?"

"That I love you."

Joaquin at last broke into a shy grin, eyes darting downwards as a very light, almost non-existent pink color dusted his cheeks.

"You're such a girl, Andrews."


	3. Jacket

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Uh-huh. So what's with the mark on your neck?" Reggie continued, lightly tapping the spot on Archie's neck.
> 
> "Just, uh, bumped into a door yesterday......." Archie lightly shrugged, sounding slightly nervous.
> 
> "You bumped into a door with your neck?" Archie Andrews was a horrible liar, even Reggie could see through his bullshit.

_**AU: Takes place in Season 2, Joaquin never went to juvenile and transferred to Riverdale High. Joaquin and Archie are dating but not openly. Also La Bonne Nuit is already canon here.  
** _

Reggie Mantle's not the sharpest crayon in the box. Or well, that's what most people tended to tell him if they thought he was stupid.

He wasn't, honestly. Like yeah, his grades were kinda bad, and he tended to make some dumb-ass comments every now and then, but that didn't mean he was stupid! He was street-smart, at the very least.

Reggie really didn't believe he was stupid. Despite what his dad spat at him every morning, what the teachers told him through sighs and what the guys on the football team jokingly yelled in his face.

And because Reggie Mantle _wasn't_ stupid, he was sure he could figure out why Archie Andrews had been acting so off lately.

Well, alright, he didn't really notice until Veronica Lodge approached him during lunch break one day. They were on okay terms, Reggie had actually apologized after the whole school president stuff, even though _Veronica_ was the one that punched _him!_

But still, he'd been very surprised when Veronica pulled him aside and had asked him:

_"Reggie, do you know what's going on with Archie lately? He's been acting really uncanny."_

Reggie had frowned in confusion at the last word, hated that he did, but Veronica caught up on it and was nice enough to explain it to him.

_"Uncanny is like weird, mysterious."  
_

_"Oh......well, what do ya mean? I don't think Andrews' been weird."_

Veronica had tilted her head at him, chewing on her bottom lip as she considered what to say next.

**She looked cute, or whatever.**

_"He's been a lot more.....happy? Not that it's weird that he's upbeat, but it's, like, all the time? And don't get me wrong, I love seeing my boy Archie happy, but also......."_

She'd trailed off before standing on her tip-toes, her mouth next to his ear.

_"I've been seeing bruises on his face and arms......."_

Reggie frowned before slowly nodding. Yeah, okay, that was true. Maybe he hadn't picked up on his buddy's happier attitude, but he had often seen blue and purple marks on Archie's body when they were in the locker room.

It was after Veronica had said that, that Reggie Mantle became motivated to find out the truth behind Archie's weirdo attitude and bruises.

Anybody who messed with Archie Andrews, automatically messed with Reggie Mantle as well.

_"Shit, you're right....... But you don't gotta worry no more, Ronnie, The Magnificent Mantle's about to find out what Andrews' been up to!"  
_

Veronica had smiled widely at him, maybe it even made his heart skip a beat for a moment.

Anyhow, Reggie Mantle was on the case. The first step in his investigation was simple, just ask the guy straight-forward. Reggie was all about business.

So he cornered Archie in the hallway right before third period, lightly shoving the red-head against a locker.

"Whoa, Reg, what's up?" Archie huffed out a laugh, looking at his buddy with a puzzled expression plastered on his face.

"What's gotten you so happy lately, Andrews?" Reggie simply asked him, as if he was just attempting to start an average conversation.

"Huh? Nothin', I'm just......feeling good, I guess." Archie shrugged, looking rather distracted by something behind Reggie.

Reggie quirked a brow at Archie and only turned around once the ginger suddenly laughed at something. But all Reggie saw when he turned around was a group of Serpent students walking away, none of them looking at the two of them.

"What's so funny?" Reggie asked instead, tilting his head at Archie.

"Nothing, Reg! I'm fine, just thought of something funny Jug told me........" Archie muttered, ducking his head and willing himself to stop smiling.

Man, Archie was acting like a giggling 12-year old girl who'd just gotten a text back from her crush. 

"Uh-huh. So what's with the mark on your neck?" Reggie continued, lightly tapping the spot on Archie's neck.

"Just, uh, bumped into a door yesterday......." Archie lightly shrugged, sounding slightly nervous.

"You bumped into a door with your neck?" Archie Andrews was a horrible liar, even Reggie could see through his bullshit.

The mark looked quite purple. Almost like it was a...... _hickey. _Archie was just about to speak up again when the bell rang, alarming the students they had to go to class.

"Ah, sorry Reg. I gotta get to class. See you at practice!" Archie clapped Reggie on the shoulder before speed-walking down the hallway, leaving the other teen on his own.

Reggie huffed to himself, irritated with the lack of answers. The next day in the locker room, however, right after practice, Reggie noticed something else.

There were even more bruises on Archie's thighs. Some of them even looked like.....bite marks?? 

Reggie grinned all of a sudden, thinking he'd figured it out. Of course! Archie must've found himself a girlfriend or something! 

"Damn, Andrews, who's your kinky girlfriend??" Reggie loudly asked, earning himself an irritated look from the ginger in question.

"That's none of your business, Reggie." Archie replied, smiling somewhat mischievously. 

"Alright, alright!" The black-haired teen put up his hands in defense, smirking a bit as he turned back to tying his shoelaces.

After school, he confronted Veronica, who was waiting outside the building for Betty.

"Hey, Ronnie, I found out Archie's got himself a girlfriend! Or well, he didn't really say he had one, but I'm pretty sure he does!" Reggie proudly stated, leaning against the wall with crossed arms.

"Why, thank you, Reginald! As a reward, you're invited to my party. It's at La Bonne Nuit, don't be late." Veronica leaned in close again, slipping an invitation into Reggie's pocket.

The quick peck on the cheek Veronica gave him had Reggie grinning all day until it was time for the party.

It was there, however, that Reggie Mantle learned there wasn't a girl in Archie's life.

Around midnight, Veronica had fallen a bit sick at the party. Too much alcohol, Reggie assumed. He'd put his jacket over her shoulders and escorted her back upstairs, hoping he could just wait there with her until Moose arrived.

You see, Reggie hadn't brought his car to get to Pop's, so he couldn't drive Veronica back home. Luckily enough, Moose was always there to get him out of a shitty situation.

So as Reggie and Veronica sat down at a booth, waiting for Moose, Reggie spotted the thing that ultimately cleared things up.

"You alright, Joaquin?" Reggie could hear Archie's voice nearing.

Oh, he was at La Bonne Nuit? Reggie hadn't even noticed. The tan-skinned teen briefly glanced over, preparing himself in case he had to help his buddy escort a drunk Joaquin outside.

"Yeah, I'm good, babe, just light-headed.........."

............. _ **babe?**_

As Reggie's eyebrows went up, the two boys in question actually appeared. Joaquin had Archie's varsity jacket over his shoulders, one of Archie's arms was holding him close as well.

The interaction, looked, well, anything but platonic. And it's not like two dudes couldn't be close together without being gay (Reggie's trying to be open-minded these days) but the 'babe' basically said it all.

"Don't fall over, thou- ** _oh._** Hey, Reggie......." Archie Andrews stopped dead in his tracks, eyes widening as he noticed Reggie and Veronica sitting.

"........sup." Reggie awkwardly waved, not sure how to approach the situation.

"Aww, Joaquin, you look so cute in Archie's jacket!" Veronica cheerfully slurred, excitedly waving at the two.

"Gracias. Hey, Andrews, why don't we get the hell outta here?" Joaquin quickly suggested, stumbling towards Pop's exit.

"Whoa, wait up!" Reggie started getting out of the booth, still processing the fact that the girl Archie was seeing apparently wasn't a girl at all.

Archie seemed to hesitate for a second, glancing back at Reggie, before making a run for it. He bolted out of the diner, and Reggie was left on his own again, a drunk Veronica still laughing in her booth.

"Oh my God, Archiekins and Joaquin are _gay!~"_ She snorted, pulling at Reggie's hand to get him to sit again.

Reggie just stared at her in shock.


	4. Detention

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The ginger looked bored out of his mind, picking away at the sleeve of his varsity jacket.
> 
> Joaquin decided it would be fun to mess with him. Or maybe just talk, the kid looked interesting enough. So the young Serpent scribbled something down, made a paper airplane out of the note and tossed it towards Archie.
> 
> The other teen startled as the small plane smacked against his shoulder. He offered Joaquin a confused look before unfolding the plane.

_**AU: Takes place in Season 1, near the beginning of the school year. Joaquin isn't dating Kevin and goes to Riverdale High.** _

Joaquin DeSantos had not planned for his afternoon to be taken away from him, but alas, fate had different plans for him.

He'd gotten detention over something stupid, really. Him and Sweet Pea were just messing around when Pea had crashed into a group of Bulldogs walking by. They'd resorted to violence immediately, of course. And though Joaquin wasn't much of a fighter, he had to defend his fellow gang member.

Archie Andrews had stepped in, but it had caused Sweet Pea to hit him right in the eye. Archie, despite his good nature, could surprisingly throw a few punches. Pea had stumbled back and clenched his jaw in pain. Joaquin tried finishing the job for him, decking Andrews near his jaw before a teacher finally broke them apart. Sending a handful of the Bulldogs to detention, including Joaquin and Sweet Pea.

So yeah, that's how Joaquin found himself stuck in the library after school hours. The teacher had dozed off, and Sweet Pea was on the complete other side of the room, whereas Joaquin was seated two seats away from Archie.

The ginger looked bored out of his mind, picking away at the sleeve of his varsity jacket.

Joaquin decided it would be fun to mess with him. Or maybe just talk, the kid looked interesting enough. So the young Serpent scribbled something down, made a paper airplane out of the note and tossed it towards Archie.

The other teen startled as the small plane smacked against his shoulder. He offered Joaquin a confused look before unfolding the plane.

The note read: **Sorry 'вoυт yoυr вlαcĸ eye. Peα wαѕ αιмιɴɢ ғor ѕoмeвody elѕe.**

A light smile played at Archie's lips as he took out a paper of his own and scribbled something down. He also made a paper plane and tossed it to Joaquin.

It was a messy throw, causing the paper plane to land behind Joaquin's chair. The raven-haired teen almost laughed at Archie's dissapointed frown as he reached behind him and picked up the plane.

A soft grin appeared on Joaquin's face as he read the note.

_HiS punCh waS prettY good. YourS hurt more, though :")_

Joaquin took out another paper, and that started the 7-minute long cycle of the two of them just passing notes back and forth. But when the teacher finally got up to use the bathroom, Joaquin used the opportunity to move into the seat right next to Archie.

"Hey." Joaquin softly grinned at the football player.

"Hey yourself." Archie returned the grin.

"So, what do you do?"

"Huh?"

"Like hobbies n'stuff." Gotta be more specific, Joaquin.

"Oh! Well, I play football and I'm kinda into music as well. I write songs sometimes." Archie shyly confessed, shrugging.

"So are you like Troy Bolton?" Joaquin snickered at the pout that appeared on Archie's face.

"Minus the fact that I play football and he's into basketball." Archie snorted.

"Eh, all sports are the same to me." Joaquin nonchalantly said, internally cheering when it got a laugh out of Andrews.

"Wow, I didn't know you were a blatant copy of Jughead! So what are your hobbies, Joaquin?" Archie curiously asked, leaning with his cheek onto his hand.

"I'm a Serpent, that keeps me busier than any hobby ever would." Joaquin dryly replied, suddenly going poker-faced again.

Shit, Archie accidentally turned the conversation awkward, didn't he? He tended to do that a lot lately. As Joaquin averted his eyes, Archie tried to think of something to save the conversation. He got distracted, though, by Joaquin's stomach loudly growling.

The Hispanic teen tried to ignore it, but the American next to him clearly wasn't having it.

"Hey, I got two donuts at Pop's earlier. You want one?" Archie offered, already taking the sweets out of his bag. 

Joaquin hesitated, not sure how to respond to the act of kindness. He chewed on his bottom lip before eventually shrugging.

"Your loss." Joaquin commented, accepting the donut.

Archie chuckled at that before taking a bite out of his own donut. They ate in silence, but it was a comfortable type. Not the unnerving type of silence Joaquin dealt with during dinners between his family members. If there was dinner in the first place, that is.

"So....you got a girlfriend or something?" Archie carefully brought up, briefly glancing up from his donut to look at Joaquin.

Joaquin tried to stifle his laugh, but that ultimately proved to be impossible. The question was too ridiculous for him not to laugh.

"I'm gay." He simply broke it to the other teen.

Archie looked surprised to an almost comical degree. Oh God, the kid's face even went a bit red!

"Uh-I'm sorry. I should've known. I mean, the only gay I know is Kevin and-"

"You think every gay guy's like Keller? Sorry to disappoint you, buddy. I guess I don't really scream rainbow flags or anything, but yeah. 'S not always easy to tell what gender people are into." Joaquin watched as the blush on Archie's cheeks slowly faded and smiled a bit.

"Yeah....." Archie quietly agreed.

"So what about you, Andrews? Got a girlfriend?" Joaquin asked, crossing his arms as he scanned Archie's face.

Narrowing eyes, a nervous lick of his lips, hesitation....... Whatever Archie was about to say next, was a lie.

"I don't......guess I just haven't met the right person yet." Archie replied with a steady voice.

Joaquin couldn't help but pick up on how Archie said 'person' and not 'girl'. Eh, he was probably looking too much into it. Archie was most likely lying about not having a girlfriend.

Joaquin didn't know why he was dissapointed by that.

Archie looked as though he was gonna say something else when clapping filled the room.

"Detention's over, y'all are free to leave." The teacher announced, opening the library doors.

Joaquin put his jacket back on and grabbed his bag, subtly waiting for Archie to do the same before walking ahead of the ginger.

"Uh, hey, wait up!" Archie suddenly called after him, speed-walking so he could block Joaquin's way.

The raven-haired teen patiently waited for him to speak up.

"Give me your arm." Archie somewhat nervously told him.

Joaquin raised an eyebrow at the other boy but did as he was told. He watched as Archie rolled up his sleeve and noted something down on Joaquin's skin, careful to avoid his tattoo.

"In case you wanna come up with a new reason to get into detention. Or just to hang out, I guess." Archie smiled at him, shy, but ultimately determined.

Probably a bold move for someone like Archie, Joaquin could already tell. But rather than the unusual move throwing Joaquin off, it got him returning Andrews' smile instead.

"Guess I'll meet you in our next detention then, Andrews." 


	5. Comfort

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tears sprung to his eyes as he thrashed around, shoving at a stunned Reggie Mantle. 
> 
> "Andrews what's going on?!" The PE teacher cried out, rushing over to the two boys.
> 
> Archie curled in on himself, still shaking like crazy. Joaquin knew what was happening, he'd seen it happen to Fangs before, when something triggered his memory of getting shot. This one was heavier, though. And more public, sadly.

**_AU: Takes place in Season 3, Joaquin never stabbed Archie and escaped with him. Joaquin and Archie are dating._ **

Archie Andrews was a damaged man. Joaquin could tell, he was damaged himself. He hadn't been the same after juvie. Joaquin had known already that as soon as warden Norton had given him the knife, he wouldn't go through with it. The Joaquin from a few months ago would've probably gone along with it, anything to get out of the hellhole. 

The Joaquin from months ago would've just seen Archie as....a stranger, really. A guy he used to briefly talk to at parties, or who he would offer help to if Kevin asked him. Past Joaquin would've felt guilty as hell, for sure. He might've even hated himself for it. And frankly, the Joaquin from now didn't exactly fall in love with Archie the second he stepped through those gates.

But Joaquin knew he was a goner when he and Archie shared their first kiss. In juvenile of all places. It had been unexpected. Archie had offered to aid him in cleaning the wounds Joaquin got from his boxing match. But when the ginger leaned in to kiss him, suddenly, Joaquin had to admit he might've melted into the kiss.

It was after that kiss, that they became a secret.

They escaped together, miraculously. Joaquin jumped into the pit when the smoke bombs were dropped. Archie was there to catch him, like he was Joaquin's own personal parachute. 

It felt weird leaving Mad Dog behind. _Wrong._

Betty Cooper wasn't as pleased to see him as she was to see Archie, but she contributed to helping them both escape anyways. Reggie and Veronica were surprised to see him as well. The Raven-haired girl had resorted to texting Kevin right away. Joaquin didn't care enough to protest, just let Archie's head rest on his shoulder during the whole ride.

"Joaquin, you gotta go back without me." 

Archie had told him at some point, Joaquin doesn't remember when. He said something about Canada, and saying he was being hunted. The only part Joaquin vividly remembered was Archie saying he would come back if everything calmed down.

Joaquin didn't know why he went back alone that night. It felt like the right thing to do at the time. Ricky cried for two hours straight when Joaquin came home.

A whole month later Archie Andrews was back, and Joaquin had rolled into Riverdale High. The first time Joaquin saw Archie back was in biology class. The ginger hadn't been able to look anyone in the eye. Joaquin could tell something had changed in Archie. That's what prison did to people like him. He was quiet now, very quiet. And he didn't smile as much as he used to anymore. 

They hadn't talked at all. About nothing. It never felt like a good time to bring up what happened. Or what they were to each other right now.

_Him and Archie weren't on, but they weren't off either._

Two weeks after they saw each other again, Joaquin finally got to talk to Archie. But, the scenario that caused their eventual reunion wasn't exactly ideal. 

The only other class besides biology they shared was gym. Which wasn't exactly a favorite of Joaquin, but he managed.

They were wrestling that day. Or well, sparring exercises. But most of that led to wrestling. The girls didn't wrestle (except for Toni and Peaches) but pretty much all of the Bulldogs did. Moose and Chuck were having a great time attempting to pin each other down. 

Joaquin had both the worst and best luck by having Kevin be his sparring partner. Worst because sparring with your ex was awkward. But then again, Kevin didn't hold grudges for long, maybe they could become friends? Best, because Kevin didn't insist on man-handling Joaquin to play-fight with him.

Reggie and Archie, being the close buddies they were, had also resorted to wrestling. And it went fine at first, neither the teacher nor Joaquin really paid any attention to it. But Reggie must've accidentally made a wrong movement, or handled Archie too roughly, because when Reggie had managed to pin the ginger down, all hell broke loose.

"Andrews? You okay? You're kinda shaking- _whoa!"_

Reggie had cut himself off in surprise, and the loud tone of his voice had made Archie's breathing go even more rapid. The brown-eyed teen's shirt had rode up enough to reveal the brand mark on his hip he'd gotten from a warden in the prison. Well, Archie never explicitly told him, but Joaquin wasn't blind to the truth.

"Holy shit, **_who_** the hell did that to you??"

Then Reggie, curse his dumb-ass soul, had attempted to brush over the mark. Which of course _really_ made Archie panic.

Tears sprung to his eyes as he thrashed around, shoving at a stunned Reggie Mantle. 

"Andrews what's going on?!" The PE teacher cried out, rushing over to the two boys.

Archie curled in on himself, still shaking like crazy. Joaquin knew what was happening, he'd seen it happen to Fangs before, when something triggered his memory of getting shot. This one was heavier, though. And more public, sadly.

"DeSantos, get him to the nurse!" The teacher ordered, waving him over.

Joaquin acted quick. Archie did flinch away from his touch, but allowed Joaquin to lead him out of the gym. He didn't lead the two of them into the hallway, just made Archie sit down on a bench instead. Archie hated being fussed over, Joaquin remembered. Bringing him to the nurse would just embarrass him and he'd probably be asked a lot of unpleasant questions.

The ginger curled in on himself again, hands covering his ears to try and block out whatever sounds echoed through his head. He wasn't focusing on his breathing, Joaquin had to get him to calm down.

"Archie? Hey, look at me......" Joaquin carefully wrapped his fingers around Archie's hands, pulling them down and letting them rest on Archie's lap.

The other teen didn't quite look at him, his brown eyes darted across the room, still panicked.

Archie's breath hitched when Joaquin cupped his face.

"No, no, no..... They're gonna _hurt_ me, Joaquin! They're g-gonna....I'm not-" 

"Look at me, okay? You're not in there anymore, you're safe here. I'm not gonna let anyone hurt you. Not ever again....." Joaquin insisted, looking into Archie's watery eyes.

If only Joaquin had been able to protect Archie in juvie. But it was hard to protect anyone in a place like that, Joaquin would've probably been dead himself if Archie hadn't taken his place during that boxing match.

Archie's breathing became more regular, at least. He looked like he got a sense of where he was again. Joaquin softly ran through Archie's ginger hair as the other clung to his back, shaking less vividly with each second passing.

"I just wanna be myself again...... I don't wanna freak out every time I look at... _at that._ Why can't I just forget about it, Joaquin? It's like I forgot how to breathe, every day I feel like I'm drowning...... A-and everyone's tryin' to get me out of the water but I keep sinking in _deeper."_ Archie whispered, voice raw and broken.

It genuinely broke Joaquin's heart to see him like that, way more than he thought it would. 

"Arch, listen to me...... You went through a literal **_hell_** and came back here still standing on your own two feet, holding your head up high. The fact that you even returned to Riverdale at all is a goddamn miracle! So please, take my word for it, no one's gonna blame you for freaking out whenever someone reminds you of the worst of the shit you've been through. Archie Andrews, you're the strongest person I know, I don't think I'll ever meet another one like you." 

Joaquin didn't consider himself to be great at comforting people, so color him surprised when Archie turned to look at him and smiled through teary eyes. They sat in silence for a while longer, hugging onto each other, neither exchanging a word. They didn't have to, silence could often be more soothing than talking.

"M'sorry I didn't talk to you for so long......" Archie suddenly muttered, resting his forehead against Joaquin's.

"Don't be. I'm just glad you're back......" Joaquin easily answered, running his hands up and down Archie's warm arms.

".......can I kiss you?"

The question threw Joaquin off guard for a moment. But as he stared into Archie's unsure eyes, a light blush playing on both their faces, Joaquin let out a chuckle.

"Shouldn't I be the one askin' you that question? ......yeah. Go ahead." Joaquin's eyes slipped shut as Archie leaned forwards.

The kiss was sweet yet full of passion. It didn't last for too long, but Joaquin still saw fireworks by the time Archie pulled back.

"Uh.....was that good?" Archie huffed out a laugh at Joaquin's still widened eyes.

"Sure, Andrews. That wasn't bad. But I bet _I'll_ do you one better." Joaquin playfully replied, locking his fingers under Archie's jaw.

The other grinned back a bit goofy.

"Show me what you've got then, DeSantos."


	6. Cigarettes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The two times Archie saw Joaquin smoking for the fun of it, and the one time he didn't.

(Omg I just realized Joaquin didn't go to juvie at the end of season 1, he just left town I'm so stupid??😂)

**_AU: Takes place throughout season 1-3. Joaquin never left Riverdale and in Season 2 he went to Riverdale High before being hauled in during riot night. Also Joaquin didn't die, but did stab Archie._ **

The two times Archie saw Joaquin smoking for the fun of it, and the one time he didn't.

**1**

Kevin, Moose, Archie and Joaquin entered the White Whyrm with steady steps. While Archie and his two classmates stuck closely together, Kevin's boyfriend guided them through the crowdy bar. Joaquin blended in perfectly with the rest, cladded in Serpent colors and possessing the knowledge of when to make eye contact with a fellow Serpent and when not to.

So yeah, Archie had tried his best to like Joaquin. He had, honestly. Kevin was his friend and the fact that Joaquin was willing to help them in the process of finding the guys that jumped Moose was really awesome of him.

But, like....c'mon. The guy had a smug attitude, came from the South side and just screamed 'trouble' no matter how he looked at you. And Archie was just anxious that Joaquin would turn out to be a heartbreaker, and hurt Kevin's- _and oh my God Joaquin just smiled at a literal snake in a cage._

Kevin's comment of **_"We're all gonna die"_** sounded rather accurate in Archie's ears. At some point Joaquin and Kevin went to play pool, trying not to stand out as much. Before Archie could truly regret wearing his varsity jacket to the White Whyrm, Moose was suddenly nudging his shoulder.

"I think that's one of the guys......." Moose quietly told him, nodding towards an older guy with a beanie.

"You sure?" Archie asked, carefully looking back at the brunette.

".......uhm, I'm not sure. I can't see 'im that well. He looks kinda familiar, though." Moose nervously replied.

A wave of anger hit Archie so suddenly it almost scared him. Turning the anger into determination, Archie marched over to the man, turning him around by his shoulder rather aggressively.

"Oh God!" Kevin shrieked, getting away from the pool table with Joaquin.

The bearded guy looked him straight in the eyes, and for a small second, Archie started questioning why the hell he walked up to this guy alone.

"What....? You got a death wish or somethin'?" The guy spat in his face, stepping up to the young Bulldog.

"Archie, back off." Joaquin cautiously told him from where he was standing behind Archie.

"You like beating up teenagers?" Archie huffed, puffing out his chest and not planning on backing off any time soon.

"This ain't the first time one of you bulldogs comes in here looking for trouble!" The man growled out, shoving the ginger-haired teen backwards.

Though Joaquin had attempted to pull Archie back, it was to no use. The Bulldog was already launching a punch at the Serpent, who easily dodged his blow and basically lifted Archie up by his shirt.

The last thing Archie remembered before blacking out, was being shoved into a pool table and a sharp pain hitting his face.

_......................................_

"Hngh......." Archie groaned out as he heavily blinked, trying to adjust to the light.

"Looks like the hot shot's finally awake. Sleep well, princess?"

Archie looked up rather irritated to spot Joaquin leaning against the wall, half-smirking down at him with a cigarette between his fingers.

They were outside of the bar, Archie was lying on the ground with something soft beneath his head. Seeing as though Joaquin was now in a plain white T-shirt, Archie guessed he was resting on his Serpent jacket.

Weird.....why would Joaquin let him use his Serpent jacket as a pillow? Wasn't that like a holy piece of clothing or something?

"Leave me alone, dude........ What even happened?" Archie muttered, pulling himself to his feet.

"Well, you stupidly decided it would be a good idea to get into a fight with an adult Serpent, he punched you a black eye _aaaand_ I had to convince everyone in the White Whyrm not to let said Serpent kill you." Joaquin explained, simply shrugging as he took a drag from his cigarette.

"Oh." Archie stupidly said, 

"Yeah." Joaquin agreed.

Shit, what now? Joaquin kinda did something really cool for Archie, he couldn't be an asshole to him after that. But he could however, warn Joaquin about the dangers of smoking.

"Smoking's gonna kill you, y'know." Okay, maybe that wasn't very smooth, but-

"At least you didn't say cigarettes are bad for me. And, frankly, I don't really care, pretty boy. I don't smoke 'cause of stress or anythin', it's just fun." And as always, Joaquin answered it like a question as simple as 2+1.

"Still, I'd lay off on them if I were you." Archie uncomfortably shrugged, hugging his jacket a bit closer as the cold wind hit him.

"Cause these cigarettes might kill me one day? No one's gonna care if I die. I'm just a random guy from the Southside, even Kevin's gonna be movin' on if I were to die." Joaquin thoughtfully replied, twirling the cigarette around in between his two fingers.

"Dude, don't say that....." Archie frowned, standing up and grabbing Joaquin's jacket off of the ground.

"Why not? I'm just being realistic here." 

Archie rolled his eyes before throwing the leather jacket over Joaquin's shoulders. It apparently took Joaquin off guard, as his eyes widened a bit.

"I'd care if you died. So, leave the stupid stuff for me to say, alright?" Archie slightly smiled at Joaquin as he took some steps back.

"See you around." Archie stated before walking off, leaving Joaquin standing there with a cigarette between his slightly parted lips.

And yeah, Joaquin did feel guilty for following the sway in Archie's hips when he'd walked away.

**_2_ **

"You cannot be serious right now." 

"Oh, I think I'm pretty serious, Andrews." Joaquin smirked at the pout appearing on Archie's face as he lit up his cigarette.

"Okay but in detention, dude? Really? How'd you even get these into the library? The teach always checks everyone's bags when they come in." Archie quirked an eyebrow as Joaquin puffed out a small cloud of smoke.

"Learned some tricks from SouthSide High." Joaquin whispered back, taking something out of his bag.

All Archie could do was watch in confusion as Joaquin pulled out a pastel purple Hello Kitty pencase. That was, until Joaquin opened it, of course. A bunch of cigarettes were placed inside, how did he not guess that earlier?

"Wow." Archie just shook his head before attempting to wave away the smoke nearing his face.

"Wow indeed." Joaquin grinned, offering the frowning ginger a cigarette.

"No way!" Archie protested, batting Joaquin's hand away.

Joaquin quietly laughed as he put the pencase away, making sure the teacher didn't see him from his hiding spot behind the book shelf.

"What's with you today? Aren't you supposed to be, like, super serious?" Archie tilted his head at Joaquin, an amused kind of curiosity written on his face.

"And aren't you supposed to be, like, super sweet? Guess both of us wanted to switch it up a bit today. Have some fun." Joaquin almost smiled when Archie suddenly laughed.

He really liked Archie's laugh. It was usually a bit self-conscious, controlled. But Joaquin knew Archie had the tendency to almost cackle when he genuinely laughed.

"That's fair, I guess. Still, though, if we get caught, you're the one to blame." Archie seriously stated, crossing his arms.

**_We...._ **

Just by that one word, Joaquin already knew Archie wasn't gonna rat him out. Archie Andrews was cooler than he really let on, too bad he was so uptight all the time.

"Andrews! Where's DeSantos gone off to?" The teacher asked from behind her desk.

"He just went to the bathroom, Miss Sunny." Archie calmly replied.

Joaquin grinned at the ginger-haired boy through a cloud of smoke.

_** +1   
** _

Joaquin felt like he was gonna throw up. The fact that Archie Andrews was standing right next to him, very quietly, made it even worse.

He really thought he'd killed Archie. Or well, that the warden or Hiram Lodge had. But yet here Riverdale's golden boy stood again, alive and not-so-well. Joaquin wouldn't blame Archie for beating the hell out of him right now. He kind of deserved it, after all.

The thing was, though, Archie didn't. In fact, when Fangs and Sweet Pea had him pinned to the tree, Archie was the one that had told them to back off.

_"Hey-hey! Stop, you're hurting him! Jug! Tell 'em to let him go."_

_"Why do you care Archie? He literally stabbed you, just let me take care of thi-"_

_"Jughead, if you don't make your guys release Joaquin **right. now.** I won't hesitate to rip 'im right out of their hands."   
_

_".........fine. Let him go."_

It really, _really_ didn't make sense to Joaquin _._ Archie could've very easily been dead because of Joaquin. Hell, death was just around the corner for _both_ of them.

Joaquin was promised he'd ascend, but honestly, he strongly doubted he was truly out of the game. _  
_

"Joaquin......?" Archie muttered, eyeing Joaquin from where he was leaning against the tree he'd been held against earlier. _  
_

The raven-haired teen had pulled out a lighter and cigarette, but Joaquin's hands were trembling so badly he couldn't decently light one up. _  
_

"Hey......" Archie softly said, covering Joaquin's trembling hand with his own. _  
_

Joaquin's head perked up rather alarmed, eyes wild and hidden behind the thin hair hanging in front of his face. He looked like the humanized version of the word dead. The bags under his eyes were even darker than Jughead's and Joaquin's tanned skin had gone pretty much completely white. _  
_

Joaquin looked as though he wanted to say something, bottom lip trembling as he struggled to meet Archie's brown eyes. The way Archie's eyes were filled with kindness and warmth made Joaquin hate himself a thousand times more for betraying the poor guy like that.

And he'd actually kissed Archie before the stabbing, God what was _wrong_ with him?

"I'm sorry." Joaquin choked out.

There were a million things Joaquin wanted to say to Archie, including those three stupid words, but right now the only thing that seemed to matter was **_"I'm sorry"_**.

"Don't be......I don't blame you." Archie quickly replied, wrapping an arm around Joaquin's shoulder rather cautiously.

"You should. You could've been dead, Archie. You still can, but for what it's worth, I'll probably be dead in a few hours........" Joaquin let out a laugh, but it quickly got caught in his throat, getting replaced with a sob instead.

Why did his last moments alive have to be so embarrassing? At least he'd get to spend his final moments wrapped in the arms of the person he lov- _no._ The person he liked.

"Don't say that. I'm not letting you die, Joaquin. We're gonna hide out in Dilton's bunker or something, or maybe we'll just go to a different country entirely. But we're gonna make it. Together." Archie whispered, tone filled with determination as he now moved to pull Joaquin into a hug.

Joaquin held onto the taller teen for dear life, never wanting to let go and hoping Archie's words were true. Maybe they were, but Joaquin didn't wanna get his hopes up too much.

"..........Dilton has a bunker?" Joaquin huffed out a laugh, the mixture of fear and mild joy confusing him to the point of asking about Dilton fucking Doiley's bunker.

"Yeah, he does, it's gigantic!" Archie snorted, letting Joaquin rest his head against his chest.

Archie almost smiled to himself when he heard Joaquin drop the lighter and cigarette, at last. 

One of the things that could cause Joaquin's early death, had just been eliminated.


	7. Warmth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You're trembling on your legs." Archie pointed out, sounding a little arrogant in Joaquin's ears.
> 
> "Like I said, none of your business." Joaquin repeated, continuing his way to school.

**_AU: Season 1. Joaquin never left town and wasn't involved in Jason's murder, he went to Riverdale High and him and Kevin aren't dating anymore._ **

** _TW: Implied drug abuse, but it's very brief  
_ **

"Joaquin, where's your coat?" 

The blue-eyed teen stopped walking to turn around and see Archie Andrews of all people standing behind him, a concerned look plastered onto his face.

Okay, this was a little unusual. First of all, the two of them barely knew each other. He'd seen Archie on, like, two different occasions. Both of them when he was still dating Kevin Keller. That had been pretty much a month ago now. And second, why did Archie even care that he wasn't wearing a coat?

Joaquin's parents had sorta used all their money to get him into Riverdale High, so there wasn't exactly much cash over for them to buy decent winter clothing for the whole family.

Ricky needed warm clothes more than Joaquin did, so if that meant he had to walk around in the cold wearing a thin sweater and a leather jacket, he'd take it. Unfortunately, this had to be one of the coldest days Joaquin ever had the displeasure of experiencing. Even Archie who usually just wore his Letterman jacket was now wrapped into a fuzzy-looking coat.

Whatever. Joaquin wasn't about to cry to this well-off jock over his financial status.

"None of your business, Archie. What's it to you, anyways?" Joaquin settled for, mildly glaring at the other teen.

Sure, maybe it wasn't fair of him to treat Archie like that, but Joaquin was a Southside Serpent. He had a reputation to uphold.

"Nothin'....... But it's really freaking cold Joaquin. It looks like you're gonna freeze to death any second now." Archie replied with a shrug.

"It's not _that_ cold." Joaquin huffed, clenching his jaw as a cold wind struck the two of them.

"You're trembling on your legs." Archie pointed out, sounding a little arrogant in Joaquin's ears.

"Like I said, none of your business." Joaquin repeated, continuing his way to school.

And of course Archie quickly caught up to his pace, looking like he wasn't gonna leave Joaquin alone any time soon.

The ginger could only feel pity when he looked at Joaquin. His thin frame was obviously shaking through thin layers of clothing and he was completely red in the face from the cold. Before Archie could think about the way Joaquin's lips looked chapped and red, the question of why he was even looking at the other boy's lips struck him first.

"I'm just saying, Riverdale High's still a good 15 minutes away. And I don't wanna have you passing out in the snow or something......" Archie told the other, almost considering wrapping his arm around Joaquin's shoulders like he would've done with Jug or Betty.

"I'm not that weak, Andrews." Joaquin warned him, half-heartedly glaring at the taller male.

"I know......." Archie muttered, internally scolding himself for being so careless with his words.

Neither really exchanged words for a few minutes after that, but after Joaquin shivered for the fifth time already Archie couldn't take it anymore. He shrugged off his coat and offered it to Joaquin, who merely looked down at it with a blank face.

"What are you doing?" Joaquin moved his gaze to fixate on Archie's face instead.

"Uhm, giving you my coat? Look, I know you don't need my help or anything, but come on. There's no strings attached, just.....take it. At least 'till we get to school?" Archie pleaded, still holding out the soft material.

"........fine." Is all Joaquin had to say, putting on the coat.

Archie chuckled a bit at the way his coat's sleeves completely covered Joaquin's hands before buttoning up his jacket, shoving his hands into the pockets. Their walk to school was spend in a comfortable silence, although Joaquin was still a bit wary as though why Archie was being so nice to him.

He wasn't used to stuff like that. Not without the other person wanting something. But Archie......what did he want? He didn't look like he wanted anything from Joaquin. Not yet, at least. Maybe he'd want something from him later. Was accepting Archie's coat a bad idea after all?

Oh well. Joaquin couldn't really bring himself to care at the moment. Turned out a warm coat really did make a difference. 

"You good?" Joaquin glanced up to see Archie smiling down at him, a single eyebrow raised.

This time the pink in Joaquin's face wasn't caused by the cold.

"........yeah."

Joaquin would've never in a million years thought he'd be dating Archie Andrews two months after that encounter. But yet here they were, hands intertwined as Joaquin led Archie towards his trailer.

This is merely the second time they went to Joaquin's place. But Joaquin thankfully never had to explain why he didn't like bringing Archie over. He's embarrassed by it, really. The place was a dump compared to Archie's cozy house. Another problem was, Joaquin's parents didn't know about him and Archie yet. 

They didn't really care that he was gay, would've preferred that he liked girls though, but that wasn't the problem. If they found out he was dating a Northsider all hell would break loose.

Fred Andrews already knew about them. It definitely surprised him at first, but mostly because he hadn't had a single clue his son might've been into guys as well. Joaquin was surprised as well, when he'd learned Archie played for both teams. Furthermore he'd also expected Fred to react more.....differently to their relationship. He merely expected that because there was no way Archie could have such a happy family, there had to be something wrong with either of his parents.

But there wasn't. Fred didn't mind that they were both guys, and neither did he care that Joaquin was a Serpent.

 _"Just keep 'im out of trouble, okay? Archie's always getting into these reckless situations."_ Fred had playfully told him, smile good-natured and warm.

In general, Joaquin didn't like having Archie over at his house. But there weren't many options today. Fred was having some of his friends over, and Joaquin's other alternate to make out with his boyfriend was usually at Fangs' place, but even he had too much on his plate today to lend out his trailer to them.

"Are you nervous or something? You look a little on edge." Archie commented, squeezing Joaquin's hand.

"M'fine." Joaquin quickly replied, unlocking the door.

They stepped inside the cold trailer, if Joaquin hadn't been wearing Archie's coat he would've undoubtedly shivered. Archie's eyes curiously darted around, just like they did the first time he got to see Joaquin's place. Last time however, he didn't have too much time to glance around. Archie's boyfriend had kept him too occupied to properly navigate the trailer.

So Joaquin decided to settle for that method once again, anything to keep Archie's bright eyes away from the few needles scattered across the floor. Archie huffed out a laugh when Joaquin crowded him against the door, looking down at the other with a mixture of excitement and amusement in his eyes.

Joaquin kissed him, hard, feeling Archie gasp against his lips. They kept going back and forth for a while, Archie pulling away playfully each time so that Joaquin would chase his lips again. His teeth were already snagging on Archie's lower lip when the ginger abruptly patted his back.

"No way, you're not gonna distract me this time around. Just let me look around! Please?" And goddamn it, there were those puppy dog eyes again.

 _"I'm embarrassed."_ is what Joaquin wanted to say, but instead out of his mouth came:

"Fine. You can look around, but don't go into my parents' room." Joaquin gave in, rolling his eyes rather annoyed.

Archie flashed him a grin, and started looking around the trailer like a police dog looking for evidence. The brown-eyed teen inspected the small kitchen, the even smaller bathroom and of course, Ricky's room.

"Your little brother's name is Ricky, right?" Archie suddenly spoke up, glancing around the rather bald room.

"Uh-huh." Joaquin watched as Archie nodded to himself, seemingly deep in thoughts.

Joaquin had no idea what Archie could possibly be so conflicted about in his mind. So what, Joaquin lived in a shitty trailer with a shower that on random days decided not to work. What was so complicated about that?

Then he got to Joaquin's room. Last time Archie had only managed to muster out one comment about the room, said in between breathy gasps and groans.

_"You should lighten your room up a bit."_

Joaquin had decided to take up on the advice. He'd borrowed some of Toni's blue Christmas lights and taped them to the wall. To Joaquin's genuine surprise, his room had actually felt less lonely.

"Hey, you used my advice!" Archie cheerfully stated, eyes lightening up when he noticed the lights on the wall.

"Don't get all worked up about it." Joaquin snorted, feeling a little giddy at Archie's happiness.

"Just sayin'." Archie smiled, shrugging off his jacket and carelessly tossing it besides Joaquin's bed.

Joaquin removed both Archie's coat and his Serpent jacket as Archie flopped down onto the bed.

"Your bed is cozy." Archie offered, shoving his face into a pillow.

"Guess it is." Joaquin shrugged, awkwardly standing beside his bed.

He shivered, again. Joaquin's complete lack of cold tolerance frustrated him to no end. Archie, as always, noticed and patted the spot beside him.

"Come on, get over here!"

"Alright, alright........" Joaquin easily gave in, crawling under the covers next to the red-headed Bulldog.

The way Archie's arms wrapped around his waist almost immediately had Joaquin on the edge of fucking _giggling._

Ugh.

But Joaquin still appreciated the warm arms holding onto him, nuzzling back against Archie's chest as the other kissed the back of his neck.

"This is stupidly comfortable." Joaquin puffed out, smiling to himself.

"Tell me about it." Archie agreed.

Joaquin could probably fall asleep like that. But unfortunately his folks would be home in an hour or so, which meant he'd have to sneak Archie out through the window.

"I just wanna stay like this forever...... Cuddling rocks." Archie sleepily murmured, as if reading Joaquin's damn mind.

"Don't fall asleep on me, pretty boy. Also sex is way better than cuddling." Joaquin turned around to face his boyfriend, planting a kiss on Archie's forehead.

"That's debatable." Archie grinned as Joaquin slung his legs over Archie's body, settling down on top of him.

"Think I'll be able to change your mind 'bout that."


	8. The Gift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Whoa, I never said that! I wasn't there, I swear. I'm sorry 'bout what they did to your stuff-"
> 
> "You were there! Just admit! Your Bulldogs have been on our asses since day one, but if y'all think you can just come in our territory and touch our property, you're dead wrong." Sweet Pea spat out, moving to stand chest-to-chest with Archie.
> 
> "Dude, back off! I wasn't there!" Archie growled, lightly shoving at Sweet Pea.

**_AU: Season 2, Joaquin never left town and went to Riverdale High. Him and Archie are secretly dating. Also Archie never formed the dark/red circle because he didn't get involved with Hiram.  
_ **

Archie never realized how quiet Riverdale could be. He strolled down the rather abandoned streets, the grey skies above him showing signs that it would rain soon. Without the Riverdale or Southside High students walking around, busily chatting, or the cars tearing down the small roads, the town had an almost post-apocalyptic atmosphere.

He was actually supposed to be in gym class right now. Now that Archie thought about it, this was the first time he'd skipped class in about 2 years. Archie personally thought he had a good enough excuse, though. Joaquin's birthday was in 2 days, and he'd already made it clear to Archie what he wanted. Not on purpose, though. Sober Joaquin claimed that he didn't want anything and just wanted to spend time with Archie. Which was boring, if you were to ask him. 

But drunk Joaquin however, had a completely different thing to say. Archie didn't even remember how Joaquin had managed to get so wasted in the first place. His boyfriend wasn't a light-head in general and if he did manage to get drunk he had more of a stoner attitude. But the way he acted four days ago? All excited and happy.

_"Duuuude that one store in the Southside ROCKS! It has soooooo many flavors in gum and candy, it's got totally badass leather jackets and cozy-ass sweaters. Now I finally see why Toni's so obsessed with it. But y'know what's the coolest thing MoonWave sells? Lava lamps. Bitch, I've wanted a lamp like that since I was 8! My broke ass can't afford one of those, though."_

Joaquin had dramatically sighed after that and basically dropped head-first into Archie's chest.

Although yes, a lava lamp was totally random and expensive, plus how out of character Joaquin had been acting, Archie knew that a gift like that would make his boy happy. And that's all he really cared about.

So that's how he found himself standing in front of MoonWave. It was a really pretty-looking store, with an aqua blue tint and yellow stars painted across it.

It kept surprising Archie how in a place like Southside, there were still beautiful things. 

Twenty minutes later he was outside again, a weaved shopping bag in his right hand which contained a pink-colored lava lamp. He was starting to walk again for 5 seconds when a loud voice interrupted him.

"Hey, Northsider! Where'd ya think you're going to?" 

Archie turned around, daring himself not to sigh and saw Sweet Pea standing right in front of him, arms crossed and looking down at Archie with a dark glare.

"Uh.....hey, Sweet Pea." Archie wasn't sure what he could say to the giant Serpent.

Sweet Pea's buddy looked just as intimidating, although he looked very tired as well. Ever since it came out that it was one of the Serpents that was sleeping with Midge, Reggie had been at the Serpents' throats.

"Your buddies slashed the tires of my motorbike yesterday night. Sweet Pea's thrash can got set on fire too. You didn't happen to be there, did you?" Fangs spoke in a low voice, raising a single eyebrow at the ginger.

"Wait, The Bulldogs did that?" A confused frown spread across Archie's face.

No way..... Reggie and his stupid dark circle couldn't actually have done that, right?

"Ah-a! So you were there!" Sweet Pea accused, cracking his knuckles.

"Whoa, I never said that! I wasn't there, I swear. I'm sorry 'bout what they did to your stuff-"

"You were there! Just admit! Your Bulldogs have been on our asses since day one, but if y'all think you can just come in our territory and touch our property, you're dead wrong." Sweet Pea spat out, moving to stand chest-to-chest with Archie.

"Dude, back off! I wasn't there!" Archie growled, lightly shoving at Sweet Pea.

"Don't fucking try me, Northsider!" Rage flashed across Sweet Pea's eyes as he pushed Archie back even harder, with enough force to get him to stumble down.

 _"Dude!"_ Archie yelled, wrapping his body around the bag as the two Serpents started kicking him.

"You Northsiders think it's funny to set people's shit on fire?!" Fangs huffed out, kicking Archie roughly in the back.

"I _wasn't_ there!" Archie repeated, hissing in pain.

The kicking went on for roughly six seconds before a yell stopped both Serpents dead in their tracks.

 _"HEY!_ You two fools get away from him RIGHT. **_NOW."_**

The three of them looked up to see that Joaquin was going up to them, looking more pissed than Archie had ever seen him. Hell, if he really thought about it, he didn't think he'd _ever_ seen Joaquin pissed off or angry.

"Joaquin, what the hell are you talkin' about? He's one of the guys that went on a rampage in the Southside yesterday." Sweet Pea protested, another flood of anger washing over him as he lazily gave Archie another kick.

 _"Don't."_ Joaquin growled out, shoving Sweet Pea backwards.

His bright blue eyes stood cold, but his cheeks were already flushed with anger. He looked about ready to _seriously_ harm someone.

"Chill out, man. Why do you care?" Fangs frowned in confusion at the taller Serpent.

Joaquin hesitated for a moment, not sure how to explain why he cared about some Bulldog getting beat up without spilling that he and Archie were a thing.

"I just found out it was Reggie and his dumb circle squad who did it. Archie wasn't there, I saw him at the public pool, okay? I get that you guys are pissed at the Northsiders for what they did but beatin' up people who weren't even involved is just low." Joaquin firmly stated, helping Archie up with one hand.

That finally seemed to get through Fangs and Sweet Pea's thick skulls. Both of them awkwardly scratched their necks as a guilty expression slowly appeared on their face.

"Uh, I guess you got a point there....... Sorry, Andrews. We're just kinda defensive right now......" Fangs uncomfortably apologized.

"It's fine, guys......." Archie half-smiled at them, trying not to groan at the pain in his ribs.

".........you'll be fine?" Sweet Pea asked, eyeing Archie in a rather guilty manner.

"Get outta here, you idiots. Jesus Christ......." Joaquin rolled his eyes at them, shooing them away.

As soon as the two were gone, Joaquin carefully tilted Archie's face to see if he had any damage there. His dark eyebrows were furrowed with concern.

"Never seen you so pissed before." Archie commented, grinning rather stupidly at his boyfriend.

"What? Was I supposed to not be pissed at two clowns kicking the shit outta my boy?" Joaquin simply replied, slinging an arm around the ginger's shoulders.

"I could've taken them on, y'know." Archie quickly said.

"I don't doubt that. What are you even doin' here in the first place?" Joaquin asked a bit suspicious.

"Oh, I was just chillin'....." Archie nervously chuckled, hiding the plastic bag behind his back.

"In the Southside? I didn't see you at school today. Are you hiding something?" Joaquin threw a glance backwards, trying to see what Archie was hiding behind his back.

The brown-eyed teen grabbed Joaquin's chin to distract him with a kiss. For a moment Archie thought the distraction succeeded, Joaquin kissed him back rather energetically. But as soon as they pulled away for air Joaquin just glanced back again.

"C'mon, baby, what's that behind your back?" Joaquin raised a curious eyebrow at his boyfriend.

Ugh....Archie always crumbled at Joaquin's pet names. They totally made him weak.

"Ah, never mind. Tryna' keep something hidden from you is a losing game...... I uh, bought you something." Archie shyly scratched the back of his neck as he offered Joaquin the bag.

The Raven-haired teen put on his usual poker face, readying himself for whatever would be in the bag as he took it from Archie. His blank expression quickly fell however, as his eyes widened in surprise.

"Woah. Is this......?" Joaquin inspected the box containing the lamp, looking completely perplexed.

"A lava lamp! You sorta cried to me about wanting one when you were drunk. Figured I'd get you one for your birthday." Archie beamed at the pink flush that ran down Joaquin's neck when he looked back at him.

"That's......really sweet. You shouldn't have." Joaquin muttered, making a big deal out of looking at the price tag on the box.

"Hey, I wanted to. You deserve it, Joaquin. Hell, you deserve way more than a freaking pink lava lamp but still......" Archie trailed off, laughing as Joaquin trapped him into a rather tight hug.

"Shit.....that's actually really fucking cute....." Joaquin huffed into Archie's jacket.

"Ya wanna know what's really cute? Just look into the mirror." Archie cackled when Joaquin let out an embarrassed groan.

"Shut up, you corny bastard......"


	9. Urge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Guys, you don't gotta do this....... I'll be fine." Archie murmured, thrashing the slightest bit.
> 
> "Shut up." Joaquin told him without missing a beat.
> 
> Reggie smirked at his reply before kicking open the door of the nurse's office.
> 
> And of course, nurses were never around when you needed them.
> 
> "Goddamn it........where is she?" Reggie huffed, nodding towards the bed to move Archie there.
> 
> "Go look for her, I'll stay with 'im." Joaquin suggested.

**_AU: Season 4, Joaquin never died and enrolled in Riverdale High. Him and Archie are dating but not openly.  
_ **

Sometimes keeping their relationship secret was hard. Like, _real_ hard. Especially today. Archie had visibly been on edge all morning, and obviously Joaquin couldn't ask what the fuck was bothering him because their respective friend groups didn't usually interact at school.He figured it had something to do with Archie's uncle Frank. Who, by the way, Joaquin found to be incredibly shady. **_  
_**

Like, the guy just showed up out of _nowhere!_

Joaquin kept his mouth shut though, not wanting to start a drama with his boyfriend. But anyways, Archie'd told him yesterday that Frank had offered Munroe (who'd been attacked outside of El Royale with a golf club) some drugs to help him play through the pain.

Obviously Archie hadn't been happy with it at all.

_"You should've seen 'im, man! As if offering drugs to teenagers is totally normal."_

Maybe for Frank it was, Joaquin wouldn't be surprised if the guy turned out to be a druglord. Everyone in this town had a secret like that. 

So yeah, when Archie walked through the hallways of Riverdale High, shoulders sagging and with that familiar frown plastered onto his face, Joaquin _really_ had to control the urge to just walk over to the ginger and, he doesn't know, hug him or something?

It didn't help that Joaquin was sorta worried about the game too. Archie still had a nasty gash on his forehead that he'd gotten from a fight with some guys from StoneWall Prep, and Joaquin had just so happen to overhear Betty Cooper talking to Jughead Jones about StoneWall purposely harming it's opponents.

That made Joaquin mildly anxious to say the least, but he knew Archie could take some hits.

"You think they'll win?" Ricky groggily asked, stuffing his face with a hand full of popcorn.

"If that shit-school doesn't cheat? Probably. Stop eating so fast, do you wanna choke?" Joaquin huffed as his little brother stuck his tongue out at him.

A whistle could be heard and the River Vixens began their opening performance. Cheryl Blossom sang a pretty good cover of The Runaways' Cherry Bomb, although Joaquin didn't see the point of her lifting up her skirt during the already oversexualized dancing. It was also quite ominous that the new cheer leading coach wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"Damn, those preppies are super aggressive......" Ricky muttered, cringing when Reggie got smacked to the ground by a StoneWall player.

"We're losing." Joaquin flatly noted, taking an interest in the score board that showcased StoneWall's score of 6 and Riverdale's current score of 0.

It appeared as though Munroe had taken the drugs from Frank after all. Because he was the first Bulldog to score a fairly impressive touch-down that had the Riverdale High crowd cheering their asses off.

Joaquin grinned when he noticed that Archie did a little victory fist-pump into the air. But the smirk was quickly wiped off of his face, as only a few minutes later Archie roughly got tackled by a preppy. 

Maybe it wasn't so bad? Archie would probably just scramble off of the ground and get to playing. Or sit on the bench, if necessary. But cheerleader Veronica was already rushing towards the field, where Archie _still_ hadn't gotten up and where a whole crowd of football players were gathered around him.

The urge had sadly won this time around. Joaquin didn't know if it was because of the sudden rush of adrenaline striking him, or because of the simple fact that his Archie got _**hurt,**_ but he was already heading off of the tribunes towards the field.

He pushed past the crowd of Bulldogs and StoneWall preppies. Most of them were just uselessly standing around, waiting for the paramedics or the principal. Archie's head was resting in Veronica's lap. The gash on his forehead looked even deeper and blood was pouring out of his nose like a faucet. When he noticed Joaquin, the brown-eyed teen merely gave him a weak smile before wincing in pain.

"Fuck, are you okay?" Joaquin asked, trying not to give the panic in his voice away.

"I'll live......" Archie muttered not so convincingly.

Veronica gave him a bit of an odd look, probably not used to seeing some random Serpent caring about a Bulldog. Joaquin was thankful that she didn't ask any questions.

"You fucking asshole, you did that on purpose!" Reggie was yelling into the face of a StoneWall player.

"No I didn't! Carrot top over there just got in my way." The blonde preppy rolled his eyes at Mantle.

Joaquin was about five seconds away from decking the guy in the face, but figured that he didn't need any more odd looks send his way. 

_Calm yourself. You can always get Sweet Pea and the guys to beat the shit out of him later._

"DeSantos, Mantle, move Mr. Andrews to the infirmary!" Mr. Honey's booming voice ordered them.

"Roger that!" Reggie energetically replied, scooping Archie up from under his arms.

Archie hissed, making Joaquin roll his eyes at Reggie's carelessness.

"Be careful, dumbass......" Joaquin muttered, hoisting up Archie's legs.

"Who you callin' a dumbass?!" Reggie barked back, irritated.

"Stop arguing and get moving, boys!" Veronica snapped at them.

"Alright, alright......." The two of them sloppily moved Archie towards the school building.

He was heavier than he looked, Joaquin realized. 

"Guys, you don't gotta do this....... I'll be fine." Archie murmured, thrashing the slightest bit.

"Shut up." Joaquin told him without missing a beat.

Reggie smirked at his reply before kicking open the door of the nurse's office.

And of course, nurses were never around when you needed them.

"Goddamn it........where is she?" Reggie huffed, nodding towards the bed to move Archie there.

"Go look for her, I'll stay with 'im." Joaquin suggested.

"Sure. I'll be right back, Andrews!" Reggie offered Archie a quick smile and headed out of the office.

As soon as Reggie left, Joaquin sat down besides his boyfriend.

"Those StoneWall guys are assholes." Archie groaned as he fooled around with his football uniform.

"Agreed." Joaquin simply replied, helping Archie out of the shirt.

"Maybe it's pay-back for me beating those guys up with the Bulldogs......." Archie frowned down at the scratches and bruises on his chest and stomach.

"You guys just avenged your teammate, who by the way, got way worse than just beaten up. They're cheaters." Joaquin groggily commented, looking around for some tissues to stop the nosebleed.

 _"Joaquin_.....I can take care of myself." Archie whined, stupidly trying to sit upright.

Obviously he didn't get far and Joaquin suppressed the urge to face-palm.

"Don't _Joaquin_ me, compadre. You're just gonna lay there and let me fix you up 'till the nurse gets here." Joaquin firmly stated, walking back over to the bed to hand Archie the tissues.

"Thanks....." Archie's voice sounded a bit odd due to the tissues in his nose.

"You sorta scared me there for a second......." Joaquin quietly confessed, gently taking Archie's hand in his and playing with his fingers.

"Sorry."

"Not your fault that preppy tackled to you." The black-haired teen shrugged, pressing a kiss to the palm of Archie's hand.

"I hope the nurse won't freak out 'cause of my scars." Archie absently whispered, eyes curiously looking around the room.

"You just wanna tell her your bear story." Joaquin snorted with a squeeze in Archie's hand.

"It's totally badass, though." Archie laughed along, shaking his head at how ridicilous it all sounded.

Both of them had always been rather light-hearted on the topic of Archie's bear attack. Simply because of how stupid it actually was. Of all the things Archie had been through last year, the bear attack appeared to be the most normal one.

Okay, so at the time it wasn't funny, because Archie thought he would genuinely fucking **_die_** from his wounds, but after he survived he ended up laughing each time he saw the opportunity to tell people the story.

The story occasionally changed. "I was attacked by a bear." or "I boxed a bear." And his personal favorite: " _I_ attacked a bear."

"Mantle's taking a long-ass time to get the nurse......." Joaquin sighed to himself.

"It's a large school." Archie tried coming up with a reason as to why Reggie was taking a long tile.

"He's been going here for 3 years." 

"Touché." Archie puffed out, a sharp pain shooting through his head.

"Joaquin?"

"Yeah?"

"You gotta give me a kiss, to heal my wounds......." Archie's tone was completely dramatic as he stuck out a shaky hand at Joaquin.

His Squidward-sounding voice made everything 1000 times more hilarious.

"You're not being funny, Archie. Just corny as hell." Despite the words, a smile tugged at Joaquin's lips as he leaned forwards.

He managed to kiss Archie for approximately 5 seconds before a loud gasp from behind them made both their heads perk up.

Ricky _(got that little fucker)_ was standing in the doorway with a hand clasped over his mouth. His cheeks were a bit red, like he'd just walked in on something dirty.

Well, what did 13 year olds even find dirty nowadays?

"Uh.....hey." Archie smiled and awkwardly waved, although Joaquin quickly pushed his hand down.

"Is that your boyfriend?!" Ricky cut straight to the point, basically yelling the question.

"That's none of your business. Get outta here!" Joaquin made a shooing gesture at his little brother.

"You _are!"_ Ricky gaped at the two of them as the blue-eyed Serpent started pushing him out the door.

"Go hang out with Kev or something, _don't_ tell anyone 'bout what you saw!" Ricky brightly grinned up at him.

"My lips are seal-"

Joaquin closed the door with a click.

"Babe, you're such a _jerk_ to your brother!" Archie put on a little frown that looked somewhat comical in Joaquin's eyes.

"You have no idea what it's like to live with him."


	10. Water Bottle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Talk." Is all Toni had to say as the boys sat across from each other.
> 
> "Toni, I'm not sure this is such a good idea......." Archie muttered, nervously eyeing the Serpent.
> 
> "I don't bite." Joaquin easily informed him.
> 
> Archie gave him a rather wary look at the comment, and Toni even slapped Joaquin's arm with a roll of her eyes.

**_AU: Season 1. Joaquin never left town and enrolled at Riverdale High, along with Toni. Joaquin and Kevin broke up and Archie is single._ **

Archie Andrews was a goddamn prick. Joaquin's always been irritated by him. From the moment they met, outside of the White Whyrm, because they were looking for the guys that beat Moose up, Joaquin wanted to kick his jock ass. Archie's stupid recklessness almost got him kicked out of the gang, _("Bringing a Northsider into this bar was fucking dumb, Joaquin!")_ something which Joaquin obviously couldn't afford.

He didn't get the living **_shit_** beaten out of him and almost died from a snake bite just for some stupid Bulldog to come in and ruin his life.

Archie was a total player too. Back when Kevin and Joaquin were still dating, 2 months ago, Kevin had told him Archie'd dated at least 3 girls in the span of one month. 

God was he ever **_annoying._** With his extreme popularity at Riverdale High, with all the girls continuously staring longingly at him as he passed by in the hall, with every sports club asking for him to join with his perfect fucking life. 

He had everything Joaquin didn't have. And he seemed so _content_ with everything. Even Betty Cooper, with her seemingly amazing life and grades and friends, struggled sometimes. She had an overly controlling mother, her sister was send off to an asylum and her childhood friend didn't love her back. Veronica Lodge, a rich girl who could get anything she wanted but continuously got haunted by her father's actions.

And the one thing she couldn't have was Archie Andrews. 

He was a total heartbreaker, and Joaquin DeSantos couldn't stand him.

The funny thing was, Joaquin's feelings were not one-sided whatsoever.

How did he know? Well, he noticed an unusual type of anger flashing across Archie's eyes when he approached him in the student lounge. It was the same type of anger and resentment Joaquin held in his eyes when he looked back at the red-headed boy.

"Joaquin." The blue-eyed teen casually looked up from his phone to see Archie standing before him now, arms firmly crossed over his chest.

"What is it, Andrews?" Joaquin boredly asked, propping his chin up in his hand and raising a single eyebrow at Archie.

"It was you and your guys that beat up my Bulldogs yesterday, right?" It didn't really sound like a question. The determination in Archie's eyes told Joaquin that he was positive it was him.

A-ha. So that's why Sweet Pea and Fangs were all battered up last night. Joaquin had been dissapointed to learn that they hadn't invited him over to beat up some Northsiders.

Okay, so Joaquin wasn't there. But he knew exactly how to piss Archie off the right way. Neither deny nor confirm anything.

"Hmm.....I dunno, Archie. I _might've_ beaten up a guy or two last night, but then again, it was so dark I'm not even _sure_ if it was a group of Bulldogs." Joaquin shrugged before smirking when he noticed how Archie's eyebrow twitched in annoyance.

"Stop playin' around, this is serious. You or any other Serpent can't just go around beating people up." Archie's frown became impossibly darker, Joaquin had to laugh at how comical it looked.

"You really wanna give me a lecture on beating up random people? At the White Whyrm you didn't second guess on decking Tall Boy in the face. You didn't even _know_ if he was the guy!" Joaquin's smirk dropped, as did his originally playful tone.

This arrogant ginger didn't think he could just come over here and act all tough, didn't he? Joaquin wasn't one to start unnecessary conflict, but every bone in his body was aching to push Archie Andrews to the floor.

Surprisingly, Archie didn't take a step back when Joaquin got up to stand before him. They were chest-to-chest now, both of the boys seconds away from hitting each other.

"Back up, Joaquin. You don't wanna start with me......." Archie muttered, not taking his bright eyes away from Joaquin's cold ones.

"Nah, I think I wouldn't mind beating some sense into you, Northsider." Joaquin shot back with a grin.

Geez, he was really starting to sound like Sweet Pea here.

Maybe this was a bad idea. Joaquin wasn't exactly a _great_ fighter, he'd barely survived the beating part of the Serpent hazing and Archie was a fucking **_football player_**. But his fighting spirit was too strong to repress. He just _had_ to kick Archie's ass.

The second Archie's hands roughly made contact with Joaquin's shoulders, the shorter one of the two threw a punch. It hit Archie right in the jaw, and the ginger groaned in pain before throwing himself onto the Serpent. They wrestled onto the floor for a while, with Archie easily gaining the upper-hand, but he didn't have any time to properly hit Joaquin back as he was yanked backwards by Weatherbee.

"Both of you, to my office, _NOW!"_ The dark-skinned man yelled at them, tightly holding Archie by his collar and standing between him and Joaquin.

Archie headed for Weatherbee's office without much of a fuss, but Joaquin made a show out of pushing past the principal and groggily following after the red-head.

Weatherbee chewed them out for God knows how long. Not that Joaquin was bothered to listen, anyways. Archie clearly wasn't paying attention either, too busy glaring at the side of Joaquin's head to realize what Weatherbee was going on about.

"Now get to class. And don't let this happen again." Weatherbee sternly said, dark eyebrows furrowed together.

"Yeah, okay." Joaquin coolly nodded, rising up from his seat and strutting out the door.

"Sorry......" Archie apologetically muttered to the principal before leaving as well.

At lunch, Toni Topaz was insistent on making the two of them 'make up'.

"Everyone's tired of you boys fighting over nothing! So sit down, and talk shit out." Toni determinedly grabbed both of them by their arms as she led them to an empty table.

Joaquin let himself be pulled along by the short girl because, well, she's _Toni._ He definitely didn't want to have a chit-chat with Archie but Toni Topaz wasn't exactly the kind of person you could say no to.

"Ugh......" Archie merely huffed out, also making no effort to shrug Toni off.

That mildly surprised Joaquin, considering Archie and Toni didn't really know each other that well. But on the other hand, Archie wasn't really one to ignore a pretty girl's request, even if it meant he had to sit down with a person he disliked.

"Talk." Is all Toni had to say as the boys sat across from each other.

"Toni, I'm not sure this is such a good idea......." Archie muttered, nervously eyeing the Serpent.

"I don't bite." Joaquin easily informed him. 

Archie gave him a rather wary look at the comment, and Toni even slapped Joaquin's arm with a roll of her eyes.

"Why don't y'all start off with why you hate each other?" Toni offered upbeat.

"Well, hate is kind of a strong-"

"He's an arrogant asshole." Joaquin interrupted him, completely unfazed by the way Archie gritted his teeth.

"At least I'm not the one who hid a dead body and broke up with my boyfriend for no reason." Archie bitterly answered.

Joaquin knocked over Archie's water bottle at that. Which, in hindsight, was rather childish, but Archie didn't know shit. He didn't know what it was like, having to break up with someone you liked because of a situation that had been out of his control.

"Hey, _hey!"_ Toni protested as Archie started rising up from his chair.

"This isn't working, Toni! Joaquin's impossible to reason with." Archie huffed, staring the boy in question down.

"Speak for yourself." Joaquin sneered, earning a kick from Toni.

"Just.....c'mon. I know that you guys have done some nice shit for each other, so why not talk about that?" Toni's question made both of the teens startle.

Both Archie and Joaquin had done stuff for each other in the last couple weeks. But in private, of course. There was no way Archie was ever gonna admit to that jackass that he was the one who did a good word for Joaquin to FP Jones. 

He hadn't even been sure why he did it. Something just told Archie that it wasn't fair of FP to just send him out of town after everything Joaquin had sacrificed for him.

Justice always gained the upper-hand, even if it meant helping out a _Serpent_ from the shadows.

"There's nothin' to discuss........" Joaquin huffed, the slightest bit bashful as Archie's curious eyes looked over him.

Joaquin had been the one to return Archie's lost Letterman jacket a few weeks back. The fool had left it at the drive-in, and had been whining to everybody about losing it. So Joaquin figured he'd anonymously drop it off at Archie's house.

Just to get that _carrot-top_ to stop whining, of course.

"Yeah." Archie simply agreed. He picked at the yellow sleeves of his jacket, frowning down at the floor like it had personally offended him.

"Oh, _please!_ Archie, I know 'bout what you said to FP. I know I ain't in your inner circle but I've got eyes and ears everywhere." The petite girl ominously revealed, quirking a brow in the ginger's direction.

Archie nervously swallowed at the brief confusion that washed over Joaquin's face. The Raven-haired teen quickly fixed his poker face, however, and fixed Archie with a simple look.

"What is she talking about, Andrews?" He asked in a chillingly calm voice.

Before Archie could answer, Toni once again cut him off.

"And you, _Joaquin,_ stop being a chicken and just admit you were the one that returned Archie's jacket." 

Without any goodbye or some kind of acknowledgement to the information she'd just revealed, Toni picked up her backpack and walked off, moving to sit at a table with some Vixen girls.

With Toni leaving them alone, both the boys just stood there wordlessly, unsure of how to approach the new development in the at-first-seemingly useless conversation. Joaquin knew how to break the silence, though. With nothing less than a witty remark.

"Take a seat, Bulldog. Your standing's really stressing me out."

Archie hesitantly went to sit. Almost immediately he started fiddling with his fingers, looking anywhere but at Joaquin.

"What'd you say to FP?" Joaquin could already take a guess, but he wanted to hear it from Archie himself.

"Well, y'know, I just.....uhm. I just didn't think you deserved to be send out off Riverdale, especially after you helped FP out and risked so much for 'im. Don't get me wrong, hiding Jason's body was totally messed up but I get that you didn't really have a choice. So I just, told 'im how I felt." Archie shrugged a bit bashfully, as if he was just answering a dead normal question.

"Huh." Joaquin tried his hardest not to look flabbergasted, but hiding the immense shock he felt was kind of.....impossible.

Shit. 

Returning Archie's Letterman jacket wasn't comparable to Archie being the reason he got to stay in Riverdale _whatsoever._

"I, uh......thanks, Archie." Joaquin cleared his throat in an attempt to not sound as embarrassed as he felt.

"S'fine." Archie easily replied, picking at his sandwich.

Joaquin wasn't really sure what to say to that. A thank you really wasn't enough, but he really didn't want to own Archie a huge favor, even if he deserved it. Or, well, maybe he did want to help Archie out in _some_ way if he needed anything, but not, like, to a covering up murder level.

And the fact that Archie obviously didn't expect anything else in return, made Joaquin want to do something for him even more.

"So, what's that about you returning my jacket?" Suddenly, Archie shot him a sly smile, quirking a curious eyebrow.

"Don't know what you're talking about, Andrews." Joaquin grinned, sharp and quick, as he leaned back in his chair.

"Come on, it's only fair you share your story with me after I told you mine!" Archie protested.

"There's not much to say. You left your jacket at the Drive-in, I found it, and you should thank whatever the hell possessed me to bring it back to you." Joaquin shrugged.

"Still can't believe _you're_ the one who returned it. Explains why it looked all messed up and dirty when I found it, though." Archie had a challenging, kind of playful look on his face. Joaquin felt both the desire to punch and kiss it at the same time.

Never mind that latter one.

"You're the moron that left it in the rain." Joaquin shot back, hoisting himself up from his chair and slinging his backpack over his shoulder.

He snatched Archie's water bottle out of his hand as he walked past the ginger.

 _"Hey!_ That's mine!" Archie cried out, whipping his head around in confusion.

"Not anymore." Joaquin felt a smile creeping on his lips as he mockingly held up the bottle towards Archie without looking backwards.


	11. Cockroach

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I have proof, if you must see." Veronica gestured for a few of them to come closer.
> 
> It was a picture of Archie tied to a chair, face bloody and looking barely awake. If Joaquin thought he was simply angry before, then now he was seeing full on red.
> 
> Joaquin wordlessly took his pocket knife out and looked back at Jughead, who nodded in response.
> 
> "Let's go."

**_AU: Season 2. Joaquin and Archie are dating but not openly. Veronica and Archie are close friends, and Joaquin enrolled into Riverdale High._ **

Joaquin wouldn't even think about saying it out loud, but he was pretty protective over Archie. Not that he couldn't take care of himself, Archie was built like a Greek God, after all. But he was gullible as all hell. Preferred to use his words, always tried to make people _listen._ And Joaquin knew from plenty experiences that some people just couldn't be reasoned with.

Joaquin had figured out Nick St. Claire was one of those people pretty quickly.

"I swear, man, you should've seen 'im. He was all like ' _Oh, Veronica you totally don't fit in this farmer's hole'_ or something like that! And he kept flirting with her, in like, a really shitty way. He just flat out called her sexy!" Archie ranted on, continuously ruining his and Joaquin's make-out session.

Joaquin let out a sigh. Both amused and annoyed by his boyfriend's chit-chat, he gave up on trying to kiss him. Archie had been the one to pull him into the empty chemistry classroom, but as it turned out he just wanted to complain about Veronica's childhood friend Nick.

"I'm assuming you don't like this guy?" Joaquin decided to humor the ginger, crossing his ankle over his leg.

"Uhm, yeah! Nick thinks he's totally better than the rest of us. He's a rich turd." Archie huffed, blowing a piece of hair out of his face.

"So, like Veronica?" Joaquin tried his luck. He laughed when Archie shot him an overly irritated look.

"No way! Ronnie's cool. At least she respects Riverdale. Nick St. Claire on the other hand, he's a total douchebag." Archie's face slightly relaxed as Joaquin placed a lingering kiss to his lips.

"Calm down, pretty boy. I'm sure he'll wanna return home to his mansion in New York real soon." Joaquin rolled his icy blue eyes, which, for whatever reason, made Archie really focus on who was in front of him.

A smile perked at his mouth, one that was too infectious for Joaquin not to return.

"We've still got a few minutes left. You wanna pick up on where we began?" Archie asked, a bit smug. He braced his arms against the table Joaquin was sitting on top of.

"I thought you'd never ask." Joaquin smirked.

And all discussions of Nick St. Claire and Veronica Lodge were left abandoned. 

That was, until the day of Midge's funeral. Joaquin's hadn't come to the event. He didn't feel like he belonged there. None of the previously Southside High students did. But he did pity Midge, and her family. A real tragedy, one he'd vaguely got to experience at the school's play. Midge's death was another reminder that life just wasn't fucking fair. Innocent people like Midge Klump often got the short end of the stick. Completely out of the blue. Joaquin doubted the Vixen had done anything to deserve such a cruel death.

But The Black Hood had still decided to get her. Rip her life away from her like it was nothing. Like she was just a chess piece on a board.

Cheryl Blossom was out for revenge. She'd had a tough few weeks. Having been almost raped by Nick and with Midge dying, Joaquin couldn't exactly blame the thick-lipped girl for turning her anger on Sheriff Keller. 

_"I'm gonna be out with the gang at Pop's. Can we meet up at yours afterwards?"_

Joaquin stared down at his phone, reading Archie's text over and over. It was so incredibly simple, and yet, managed to make him feel..... _adored,_ perhaps?

Archie wanted to hang out with Joaquin. Even though he could've chosen to spend his entire day with people like him, people that were worth his attention, Archie still kept on looking to have a few moments with him.

_He wants me.........._

That thought was both thrilling and terrifying to Joaquin.

_"Sure, carrot. Meet me at 14. Don't be late."_

Joaquin grinned through a cloud of smoke, turning his attention back to Fangs, who was going off about something.

By the time Archie was supposed to meet Joaquin by his trailer, Toni and Sweet Pea had joined in on the long-ass conversation. The ginger hadn't arrived yet, and Joaquin was already making an excuse up in his head to use if Archie decided to approach him while the other Serpents were still around.

But an hour later, when half of the fucking gang was chilling by Joaquin's trailer, the black-haired teen was starting to get....well, worried. Joaquin was about to glance at his phone again when sudden footsteps made all the Serpents quiet down.

He looked up to see Veronica Lodge approaching them. She looked quite unsure, a worried frown playing across her features. Her eyes stood determined, though.

"What're you doing here, Lodge?" Toni took the initiative to speak up.

"I know you lot probably don't care, but I need help. I've got money." Veronica quickly added, holding up a few bills.

A couple of Serpents were warily looking at the short girl, trying to figure out what exactly she was getting at.

"What can we help you with, princess?" Sweet Pea looked down at Veronica with a wolfish grin, clearly more interested in the Lodge than in the money.

She offered him a rather unimpressed look, and was about to speak up when Jughead suddenly appeared from behind.

"Veronica? What the hell are you doing here?" Jughead's eyebrows went up as he went to stand next to his friend.

"It's Archie! Nick kidnapped him to get back at me. My father won't pay hostage money and I don't have enough of my own. Nick says he'll let Archie go if I go on a date with him, but obviously that tyrant is lying. I know his location, but I need back-up." Veronica explained, eyes full of hope and desperation.

Joaquin felt his heart beat like a blood drum. The hair on the back of his neck had sprung up and his hands were clenched into fists.

Nick fucking St. Claire hurt Archie. _His_ Archie. If that scum thought he'd get away with that, he was fucking wrong. 

"We'll do it." Jughead replied without hesitation.

Joaquin noticed how Jughead's shoulders had tensed up. His eyes stood hard, unrelenting. Although they both disliked each other, the one thing Joaquin and Jughead had in common was their protective streak over the ginger jock. Even though Jughead didn't know about that similarity yet.

"Hold up, Jones! How are we so sure she isn't lying? What if she's trying to lure us outta here so her dad can thrash the trailer park?" One Serpent perked up.

A fair question, but one Joaquin didn't appreciate at the moment. Veronica wouldn't lie about one of her friends being kidnapped. Sure, she was a Lodge and all, but Joaquin didn't believe she'd make the whole effort of coming over with plenty of money just so she could lead them out of the park.

"Just think for a second, asshole. She's not gonna come all the way here and make up a story like that when her dad could just buy the park and destroy it at any given moment." The words were flying out of Joaquin's mouth before he even realized he'd said them.

Never in his life would Joaquin have guessed he'd ever jump to Veronica's defense, but then again, he'd never thought he'd be dating Archie Andrews either. Whereas the other Serpents were confused by Joaquin's sudden outburst, Veronica offered him a grateful smile before whipping out her phone.

"I have proof, if you must see." Veronica gestured for a few of them to come closer.

It was a picture of Archie tied to a chair, face bloody and looking barely awake. If Joaquin thought he was simply angry before, then now he was seeing full on **_red._**

Joaquin wordlessly took his pocket knife out and looked back at Jughead, who nodded in response.

"Let's go."

Nick wasn't only a piece of garbage, he was a predictable shithead as well. He really was stupid enough to keep Archie in an abandoned warehouse, left completely unguarded on the outside. At least they locked the doors.

Fangs and Sweet Pea threw themselves against the wooden material, successfully opening the doors and allowing the other Serpents to rush inside.

"What the fuck?!" One of Nick's men cried out as he was met with a punch to the face.

While the rest of the gang started the battle with Nick's goons, Joaquin searched for his red-head. 

"Archie?" Joaquin called out, easily dodging some blonde-haired fuck charging at him.

Joaquin barely heard the soft grunt coming from the stairs above all the yelling. He ran up the stairs, almost tripping over his own feet. Relief washed over Joaquin as he registered his boyfriend handcuffed to a chair. Drops of blood were dripping down onto Archie's lap and his head was bowed down.

"Arch....? It's okay, I'm here. Can you hear me?" Joaquin kneeled down in front of the hurt teen.

He cautiously lifted Archie's chin to inspect the damage. Blood was running out of his nose like a faucet, and a dark bruise was forming around his eye. Archie could barely open his eyes, he was on the verge of passing out.

"You came for me......." Archie weakly smiled, leaning into Joaquin's touch.

"Of course I did, you dumbass. You didn't actually think I was gonna leave you here with that fucker, did you?" Joaquin rested his forehead against Archie's, letting out the breath he was holding.

A creaking noise made Joaquin's head perk up, just in time to catch Nick, who was trying to sneak past them.

The young Serpent gritted his teeth and rose up, unfolding the knife he'd kept close.

"Whoa, whoa, _hey!_ If you do anything to me, I'll have you arrested and thrown into jail." Nick threatened, taking a few steps back until his back hit the railing.

Joaquin was unfazed by the threat, continuing his way over to the brunette. The thought of that rich, self-entitled on women's bodies rapist kicking Archie into a concussion was enough for Joaquin to almost push the guy over the railing.

Archie hadn't done shit to Nick. Hell, he'd barely even been made aware of the incident with Cheryl, and yet this motherfucker had straight up kidnapped him and beaten him bloody just so he would get that date with Veronica.

Jesus, it was like Archie was a magnet to trouble. Whether he was looking for it or not.

"Let me make something clear." Joaquin pushed Nick back against the railing, keeping a firm grip on his expensive shirt as to prevent the fucker from falling down.

"You ever mess with me, my boy, or hell, _anybody_ in this fucking town ever again, you better hope your daddy's gonna organize a fancy funeral for ya." Joaquin trailed the knife across Nick's cheekbone, glaring into the teen's frightened eyes.

"G-get the hell off of me, peasant......" Nick, being the idiot he just was, tried to shove Joaquin away.

The Serpent looked unamused at the remark, taking one step back before sharply kneeing Nick in the crotch. The brunette bend over with a groan, but Joaquin pulled him right back up by his collar to deck him in his stupid face. While Nick was down, the blue-eyed teen kicked him in the ribs a few times, the hot white rage suddenly taking over.

God, did he hate this overly violent side to him, this....this uncaged animal. But then he was thinking back about Archie's fucked up state, about how his pretty face had been battered by the hands of this fucking cockroach. How Joaquin hadn't found out about it until a few hours later, how he hadn't been able to protect Archie.

_Fuck it. And fuck Nick._

As Nick howled in pain, Joaquin took the opportunity to toss him over the railing. He landed in the arms of Sweet Pea and Fangs, who immediately got to work on his face. He watched his fellow Serpents beat the shit out of Nick for a few moments, listened to the rich guy's pained noises with glee.

When Joaquin turned back around, Jughead was already working on Archie's cuffs, slipping them off with the key he found. Joaquin briefly wondered if Jughead had heard his threat to Nick. The beanie-covered boy briefly glanced over at him, and he just had that look in his eyes, like he _knew._

Joaquin just swallowed thickly before helping Jug get Archie down the stairs.

They laid in bed together that evening, when Fred was still at the construction site. Neither of them were asleep. Archie's face was kind of killing him too much and he grimaced at the realization that he'd have to explain to his dad about what happened.

Joaquin wasn't sleeping because he kept staring at Archie for whatever reason. He occasionally tightened his hand around Archie's before loosening his hold again.

"Something on my face?" Archie jokingly brought up, his way of lightening the mood.

Joaquin laughed softly, it sounded more like a sigh. He reached out and ruffled a hand through Archie's hair, watching how the untamed strands of orange-y hair stood up.

"You worried the hell outta me........" Joaquin muttered, pressing a kiss to the ginger's temple.

 _Fuck._ Joaquin really didn't know what he would've done if Archie got-

"Didn't exactly have any room to text you 'bout it. But I'm fine, okay? I'm here now, next to you, breathing......." Archie's concerned brown eyes searched for Joaquin's downcast ones.

"I just.....I don't know what I would do if you......if Nick hit you so hard you'd......" 

Joaquin ran a hand through his hair, frustrated and embarrassed that he couldn't get the words out. His heart was still beating on and on in his chest, he wondered if his heartbeat would ever just go back to normal.

"Hey, look at me...... I'm okay. I know I didn't look great when you found me, but I swear I would've broken out of those handcuffs with my bare hands before I'd let Nick kill me. Y'know you're stuck with me, right? Can't get rid of me." Archie grinned, wrapping one of his long arms around Joaquin's back.

"Yeah, you're like a cockroach...... Impossible to kill." Joaquin let out a more genuine laugh this time, eyes twinkling.

"I love you."

Joaquin wrinkled his nose at that, unimpressed with Archie's cheesy declaration.

"Eww no. Don't go all sappy on me."

"You literally just called me a cockroach! You should be grateful I even _wanna_ get sappy with you after that." Archie huffed and rolled his eyes.


	12. Training

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "It's rotten work. Y'know I totally got my ass kicked in juvie, right?" Joaquin fixed him with a bored stare.
> 
> He didn't know why Archie even bothered with him. He'd fucking stabbed the guy, for God's sake. Why the hell was Archie still constantly seeking contact with him?

**_AU: Season 4. Joaquin and Archie did both go to juvie together but Joaquin didn't die at the end of season 3. He transferred to Riverdale High and Varchie didn't get back together after Archie returned._ **

The only word that fit with Joaquin's facial expression was the word dread.The gym teacher had just toldthem that next week they'd be doing boxing.Archie watched as the color on Joaquin's face practically drained. ** _  
_**

He was a little surprised by the reaction. Joaquin was usually way more capable of hiding his emotions, whether he was nervous about something or not. But that didn't really matter. Most of the time Archie had this way of knowing how Joaquin was feeling.He hadn't possessed this ability for that long, though. It was only after he'd seen Joaquin nearly in tears at Dilton's bunker that he really started to gain the knowledge of how Joaquin was put together. ** _  
_**

The black-haired teen had been forced down there by Jughead. He was surprised to see that Archie was still alive. Joaquin had barely looked _'alive'_ himself. He'd muttered some apologies, kept on talking about how sorry he was that he'd stabbed Archie and winced every time he looked at the wound.

Archie had told him it was okay, that he forgave him. Hell, he'd even managed to convince Betty and Jug to let Joaquin stay in the bunker. He knew that if he'd let Joaquin out in the open like that, without any protection, the Gargoyle King would've killed him.

They'd kind of become friends after that. So, because of that, Archie felt obliged to ask Joaquin what was wrong the second they reached the locker room.

"Hey, Joaquin, you okay? You looked kinda nervous in there......." Archie shot Joaquin a concerned look as he tossed his gym shirt into his locker.

Joaquin made sure to be subtle as he briefly glanced at Archie's abs. He wasn't a perv, but God knew it was impossible not to look at Archie Andrews' abs. The whole school always talked about them.

He had two options. Either tell Archie he was fine and just didn't feel so good, or tell Archie the truth. Joaquin did not look forward to boxing, like, _at all._ On one hand, boxing just made him think back about all the shit he'd been through. Boxing in juvie had nearly costed him his life. Joaquin couldn't understand whatsoever how Archie was able to take over the El Royale without any hesitation. Maybe he didn't get the same amount of flashbacks and nightmares Joaquin did when he thought back about last year.

And on the other hand, he just really wasn't a good boxer. And all those other sporty jocks in Joaquin's class were. He wasn't afraid of going up against them in a match or anything. Sure, he completely dreaded the idea of it, but it wasn't the pain he was scared of. Joaquin would just rather save himself from the second-hand embarrassment that came with losing against a Bulldog.

Compared to those guys, Joaquin was a twig.

"I can't box." Joaquin simply confessed.

He turned around to discard his own shirt, feeling mildly self-conscious at how skinny he looked in comparison to Archie. He was left unaware that Archie was basically staring at his back.

"I could teach you!" Archie suddenly offered, voice slightly squeaky and high.

Joaquin turned around with a raised eyebrow. Both questioning the way Archie's voice sounded and the way the ginger's face was a bit flushed.

"It's rotten work. Y'know I totally got my ass kicked in juvie, right?" Joaquin fixed him with a bored stare.

He didn't know why Archie even bothered with him. He'd fucking _stabbed_ the guy, for God's sake. Why the hell was Archie still constantly seeking contact with him?

"Just let me help? I'm sure I could train you enough to the point you at least won't go down without a fight the next time we have gym." Archie pressed on as he finally continued with the act of getting undressed.

 _"Fine._ Do your worst then, Red." Joaquin rolled his eyes at Archie's unyielding attitude. He secretly smiled to himself once he turned back around.

Archie usually didn't really like people calling him Red. Not that he'd say anything about it, but still. But when Joaquin called him that, it just sounded so....fond. In a way that you'd call your friend 'dude' or 'man'.

"Meet me at the El Royale at 9 PM. Then we've got the gym all to ourselves." Archie energetically told him, yanking on his jeans.

If Archie hadn't been so obviously into girls, Joaquin would've almost thought the brown-eyed teen was basically inviting him to a date. Being alone in a gym to box really seemed like the kind of date Archie would be into. Or maybe that was just Joaquin's horniness playing tricks on him.

"I'll be there." Joaquin simply replied as he shut his locker.

Archie grinned to himself, watching Joaquin walk away.

Okay, so admittedly, he was sorta into the Serpent. Although Veronica and him were still good friends, his broken heart had never quite healed since the day he found out she was dating Reggie whilst he was in juvenile. He hadn't really caught feelings for anyone else after that. He'd briefly dated with Josie, but both of them had agreed it was just experimental. She was getting over Sweet Pea while he was getting over Veronica, the girl he'd always thought he was gonna marry someday. 

As of recently, Joaquin had been the new person to give him butterflies whenever he walked past. Totally unexpected, really. The feeling should've disturbed Archie. Because, well, Joaquin did stab him, even after all that Archie had done for him. But he'd shown remorse, and back when Joaquin had kissed him.......let's just say, he hadn't disliked it.

But they haven't talked about that kiss. Archie wasn't even sure if Joaquin really remembered it at all. But _he_ did. And each time he looked back at the memory, he smiled, completely forgetting about what happened afterwards.

So what? Archie liked Joaquin and now he was gonna teach him how to box. Not a big deal. At all.

Archie was going berserk on a punching bag when he suddenly heard someone walking in. He looked up to see Joaquin, dressed in a pair of black leggings and a slightly too big grey T-shirt.

It was only after Joaquin let out a quiet chuckle that Archie realized he was staring.

"You just gonna stare the whole time or are you gonna teach me somethin'?" 

"I-I, uh.....yeah! Yeah, let's get started......" Archie stammered, ducking his head in embarrassment.

Joaquin grinned down at him from where he stood.

Shit. He really fell in _love_ with this motherfucker.

"Sorry, I forgot to tell my kids to leave the boxing gloves at the gym so we've only got tape......" Archie muttered an apology, suddenly feeling stupid for letting his kids get away with so much stuff.

"Your kids?" Joaquin cocked a curious eyebrow at the ginger.

"Uhm, I mean, the neighborhood kids that come in here....... I misspoke myself." Joaquin took glee in the flustered look on Archie's face. He looked cute with rosy cheeks.

Archie picked up some white tape and strolled over to Joaquin. The Serpent obediently held out his hands, watching Archie tape up his hands.

Joaquin experienced a kind of déja-vu at that. 

A memory of wrapping up Archie's scratched up hands in bandage replayed in Joaquin's mind. He remembered that moment, like it had happened yesterday. _The way Archie smelled of sweat and blood, the nervous lump in Joaquin's throat, the look in Archie's eyes when he'd asked-_

"Hey. You with me?" Archie whispered, noticing how Joaquin spaced out.

Joaquin felt that familiar feeling in his throat again. He wondered if Archie realized that he'd asked the same question as back then.

Wondered if he really cared about it.

"Yeah......"

"Okay, so try punching this bag for a while." Archie simply instructed, gesturing towards a red punching bag.

Joaquin let out a snort. The concept of teaching someone how to box was kind of dumb, after all.

"I know how to hit stuff, Archie." Joaquin said without any bite, throwing a solid punch at the heavy bag.

"We're just gonna test your limits. Try to keep punching for 5 minutes without any breaks and we'll see if your muscles haven't torn off yet." Archie provoked, laughing when Joaquin huffed and rolled his eyes.

"You're on, tough guy."

At two minutes, though, Joaquin really begun feeling some shit in his knuckles. It didn't help that El Royale's punching bags were way heavier than the ones Joaquin had used in juvie. He was panting by the time he reached five minutes, slicking his hair back and letting out a deep breath.

"Not bad. We should work on the power of your punches, though." Archie commented. He himself was barely out of breath, still going at his own bag like a gorilla.

"Easy for you to say....... You've boxed with a fucking bear." Joaquin huffed a bit, sensing the smugness in Archie's voice.

"And soon you'll be able to box with one too, after I've trained you to be like Terminator." Archie cheerfully shot back.

Joaquin sighed and shook his head at the response. God, Archie was such an idiot...... But a hot one at that. Archie Andrews was probably the only guy in the world who could pull off confusion and awkwardness in a sexy way.

"Terminator's not a human being, though. I won't be able to wipe out humanity by training in a gym for one weekend." Joaquin looked mildly amused by the idea, it made Archie smile stupidly.

Before he could think of a snarky come-back, the music that was playing through the speakers of the El Royale got replaced by something else.

"Oh my God, I love this song......" Archie muttered more to himself than to anyone else.

Joaquin was a bit surprised at that. From the rare times he'd managed to hear Archie sing or watched him perform at least 3 years ago, he would've never guessed Archie was into Bon Jovi. He was always singing the newest hits or bland-sounding love songs.

Archie never failed to surprise Joaquin. Even after all they've been through, there were still so many layers to him that Joaquin had never seen before.

"You into Jovi?" Joaquin raised an eyebrow, listening to Archie quietly mumbling the lyrics to himself.

"Hell yeah! Shot Through The Heart's definitely my favorite song." Archie proudly replied.

"Huh. You've got better taste than I thought......." Joaquin couldn't help but say, grinning sharply when he noticed Archie's pout.

"Modern pop music can be pretty good, y'know......" Archie huffed, cheeks darkening slightly.

"Sure, Jean." Joaquin snorted a bit, throwing another punch to the bag to the beat of the drums.

Archie's singing started becoming louder and louder, another thing that left Joaquin perplexed. He couldn't imagine ever daring to sing in front of someone, especially so freely. But Archie did it with ease. Even back then, when he'd stood on the small school stage with his guitar clenched in his clammy hands, there'd been a certain determination in his eyes that just wouldn't waver.

Joaquin missed hearing Archie sing.

"Woah, we're half-way there! Whoa- ** _OH!_** Livin' on a prayer!" Archie's voice boomed through the empty gym, above the noise of the punching bags.

Joaquin soon found himself joining in, almost sub-consciously. It just felt right, singing along with him. 

"Take my hand, we'll make it I swear, whoa- ** _OH!_** Livin' on a prayer!"

Joaquin almost stopped his quiet singing along when Archie stopped for a second, looking at him with widened eyes. But as the ginger's face broke into a wide smile, Joaquin decided _fuck it._

This was his life now. Fresh out of juvenile and already singing Bon Jovi with a guy he'd stabbed.

"C'mon, hit me!" Archie suddenly yelled above the music.

Joaquin looked puzzled for a moment, before Archie held up the palms of his hands and gestured for Joaquin to hit them.

The black-haired teen threw a punch in Archie's open hands, not too hard, but solid enough. The ginger grinned in response, motioning for him to keep going.

As the song went on, Joaquin kept hitting harder and harder. Archie occasionally gave him a grunt of approval. 

Joaquin's punches were electrifying. It was like a rush of energy sourced through him each and every time Joaquin's fists made contact with his palms. He watched the blue-eyed boy go at it, his usually calm poker face was now replaced with an expression of determination. Archie loved that Joaquin could just let go right now, that he could have fun without keeping his guard up.

As the chorus came on again, Archie caught Joaquin's fists. The other boy, in turn, quirked an eyebrow at him, but made no effort to take back his hands.

Archie swallowed tightly for a moment. He was about to do the boldest thing in his life. He wouldn't dare to do this with anyone else. Not even his best friend, or Veronica or anybody. 

Joaquin almost laughed out loud when Archie took his hands and started moving them up and down to the lyrics. It was such a typically girly dance move, one that Cheryl and Toni would undoubtedly do, but to Joaquin's surprise, the Bulldog didn't care about that.

There wasn't any toxic masculinity anywhere, and if anything, it made Joaquin feel even more attracted to Archie.

"Take my hand, we'll make it I swear! Whoa- ** _OH!_** Livin' on a prayer!" Both of them shouted at the top of their lungs, no chill whatsoever.

They kept singing and half-heartedly dancing for a little while longer, until Archie finally pulled back and laughed a bit. His hair bounced a bit as he cackled, smiling at Joaquin in a rather shy manner afterwards.

Fuck, he loved this. He never in a million years would've guessed he'd be standing here in a gym, dancing with Joaquin DeSantos of all people. Joaquin, despite all of what happened between them, made Archie feel like he could take on the world. His heart fluttered in the same way it did when he was around Veronica, but maybe even stronger?

If that was even possib-

"Hey, Red?" Archie's train of thoughts got interrupted as he blinked.

Joaquin was standing directly in front of him, eyes downcast and fists clenched by his side.

Oh no, was he about to get his ass kicked??

"What's the matter?" Archie's eyebrows furrowed together again. In that stupidly comical way Joaquin loved.

Joaquin wanted to kiss him. Wanted to do that so, _so_ badly. But if he kissed Archie now, and the ginger didn't return his feelings, there wouldn't be any trust between them anymore. So he didn't take the risk.

But Archie on the other hand, was known for his risky behavior. 

Without thinking about it, he closed the distance between him and Joaquin and pressed his lips to the other boy's.

It was short and hasty, Archie pulled back almost as soon as he'd begun. Joaquin just stared back at him with wide eyes, mouth a bit agape.

"U-uhm......I'm sorry-" Archie didn't get to finish his apology. Joaquin's hands gripped the collar of his El Royale shirt and before he knew it, he was pulled back again.

They lasted for approximately five seconds before Archie heard a door open up.

"Archie, you in there? I've got take-out from Pop's." Frank announced, making the two teenagers jump back quickly.

"I'm right here, u-uncle Frank!" Archie stammered out, watching as Joaquin headed up the stairs while Frank made his way through the small hallway.

"Are you-oh." Frank blinked in surprise as Joaquin ran past him in a hurry.

"That a friend of yours?" Frank nodded towards the exit once Joaquin dissapeared from sight.

"Yeah, he's.....he's from my gym class. We were training with boxing......." Archie muttered, crossing his arms and shrugging a bit.

Frank thankfully didn't seem to notice his bashfulness, cheerfully getting down the stairs with the food in his hands.

"Damn, you boys must've gone at it pretty wildly. Your face is as red as your hair." Frank grinned and patted his nephew on the shoulder.

Archie just shook his head in embarrassment, fighting the smile that threatened to appear on his face.


	13. Gum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "C'mon, don't be a Jughead! Besides, if you come along with me......." Archie leaned forwards, putting his lips right next to Joaquin's ear. "We could practice our kissing skills in peace n'quiet......."
> 
> Although Joaquin doubted that they'd have peace and quiet at a party of Cheryl Blossom's, he did like the sound of making out.

**_AU: Season 1. Joaquin never got involved with Jason's murder and stayed in town. Him and Archie are dating, him and Kevin broke up. Mrs. Grundy doesn't exist :))  
_ **

Joaquin boredly looked at his Instagram feed, biting the inside of his cheek. He was bored out of his mind, and aching for a cigarette. He wasn't addicted or anything, but he had to admit, ever since Archie made him promise to quit smoking things have been a little hard.

Not like he could smoke on the job anyways. 

Archie managed to get him a job at Pop's. As a _waiter,_ goddamn it. But it was better than running drugs for The Serpents. Joaquin didn't particularly like working on the Northside, though.

Joaquin's head perked up when he heard the familiar jingle of the bell. He smiled a little when he saw who walked in.

"Ay! Everything alright there? How's work?" Archie's bright eyes looked over at him as he leaned over the counter.

Joaquin noticed a few girls giggling at the sight of Archie, completely oblivious to the fact that he had a boyfriend. Ignoring Archie's question, Joaquin grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and brought him down for a kiss.

Archie made a little noise of surprise, but opened up when Joaquin asked for entrance. They made out for a few more seconds, before Archie eventually pulled back. His cheeks were a bit red.

Joaquin smirked, seeing the group of girls watch them in disappointment. Serves them right.

"To answer your question......." Archie looked down at him with raised eyebrows. "Work is boring as hell. And this outfit is awful."

"What'dya mean? You look great." Archie tilted his head, confused by Joaquin's comment.

"Yellow isn't my color. It fits everyone but me." Joaquin simply shrugged.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I don't look great in yellow either." Archie took delight in the smile that appeared on the other teen's face, before he remembered something.

"Oh! I got you somethin', by the way." Archie fished a pack of Mentos out of his pocket.

Blueberry. He remembered that was Joaquin's favorite flavor.

"Thank _God,_ it's to die in here without anything to have in your mouth." Joaquin snatched the Mentos out of Archie's hand.

By the grin Archie gave him, Joaquin could tell the ginger had caught onto his subtle joke. He smirked back, and just as they leaned towards each other again, Joaquin got pulled back.

"Keep the sex jokes outside my diner, boys." Pop Tate sternly told them, albeit quite amused.

"Sorry, Pop." Archie apologetically told him.

"Understood, boss." Joaquin casually offered. He put a Mento into his mouth and started chewing on it rather obscenely.

Archie cackled, shaking his head. 

"You're nuts, Joaquin!" 

"Right back at ya." Joaquin sharply grinned.

"So, uh, Cheryl's throwin' a party at Thistlehouse tonight. She said only people with a date can come. Mind helping a guy out?" Archie offered Joaquin his best puppy dog eyes, despite the flirtatious tone in his voice.

Joaquin hated parties. Sure, he could adapt to even the most awkward of situations, or throw a punch if necessary, but he disliked socializing almost as much as Jughead Jones did.

"Don't know, Archie. Cheryl's parties are always the most crowded." Joaquin scraped the piece of gum out of his teeth with his tongue.

"C'mon, don't be a Jughead! Besides, if you come along with me......." Archie leaned forwards, putting his lips right next to Joaquin's ear. "We could practice our kissing skills in peace n'quiet......."

Although Joaquin doubted that they'd have peace and quiet at a party of Cheryl Blossom's, he did like the sound of making out.

"Alright, I'm sold. Pick me up at 8?" Joaquin offered, fighting down his smile when Archie's eyes lit up and he fist-bumped the air.

"You got it!" Archie cheered, already running out of the diner.

Joaquin shook his head as he watched his boyfriend leave. He put another Mento in his mouth before going back to cleaning the counter.

At 8:30 PM, Joaquin and Archie stood in Cheryl Blossom's hallway, hands intertwined. A few of the football jocks sitting in the living room were shooting them dirty looks that went past Archie's head but Joaquin noticed. He offered them his best intimidating glare and was pleased to see that most of them narrowed their eyes. Joaquin had practiced his Serpent glare for years now, so it was great that it finally paid off.

The school was relatively chill about them being together. Sure, there were some people incredibly jealous about Riverdale's golden boy dating a dirty Serpent and obviously there had to be some casual 2017 homophobia from certain students but overall, Riverdale High wasn't the worst place to be gay.

"Y'know, Andrews, there's not a lotta couples around here......." Joaquin glanced around the gigantic mansion.

There were a few couples around, but most of the party-goers appeared to be single or just with a group of friends. The entire football squad was chilling in the lounge and staring at girls like the ridicilous teenage boys they were. Dilton Doiley was standing in the corner with a red party cup in his hand, observing his fellow classmates with a blank expression on his face.

Joaquin's pretty sure he spotted Fangs and Sweet Pea doing shots in the kitchen, but doesn't say anything about it.

Archie's face lit up a bit, being called out on his obvious lie.

"Maybe Cheryl made an exception for some of them." Archie quickly came up with.

"Right." Joaquin looked amused as he took out the roll of Mentos Archie gave him earlier.

"There's, uh, this cool new aquarium Cheryl keeps in her room. It's like, full of squids, Ronnie told me about it." Archie nervously glanced beside Joaquin, seemingly very focused on how his boyfriend chewed gum.

Joaquin almost laughed. God, Archie's game was really fucking off tonight. It was kind of funny, though, so he didn't care.

"Yeah? You wanna go check out the squids, tough guy?" Joaquin played along for the sake of letting Archie think his 'flirting' was on point.

The ginger grinned down at him.

"Absolutely!"

Archie pushed him against the door the second it closed. Joaquin stuck his hands in Archie's back-pockets and squeezed, making Archie smirk into their kiss. The kiss was sloppy and uncoordinated, Joaquin's almost choking on the Mento he popped in a few minutes ago. Archie, being the motherfucker he was, stole the piece of gum right outta his mouth and walked backwards.

As expected, there was no aquarium in Cheryl's room.

"Hmm, tastes like you....." Archie obnoxiously chewed on the blueberry candy himself.

Joaquin snorted and shook his head.

"You're so gross."

Archie's eyebrows went up in the way Reggie's often did when the Bulldog tried flattering one of the Pussycats. Now Joaquin understood where Archie got those rusty conversation skills from.

"You wanna be gross together? Like, right here?" Archie jumped onto Cheryl's bed and waggled his eyebrows at the Serpent.

"We're not about to fuck on Cheryl Blossom's bed!" Joaquin, despite his words, climbed onto the bed and on top of Archie with a playful spark in his icy blue eyes.

"I was thinkin' more about making out. I'm not _that_ shameless, Joaquin!" Archie grimaced at the thought of banging on someone else's bed. He wouldn't like it if someone else fucked on his bed either.

Before Archie could re-think his idea on making out in someone else's house, Joaquin pinned his upper arms down and got to the kissing.

Archie hummed into his mouth, relaxed and a little bit giddy. Whoever said heaven was silver spoons and rice pudding was wrong. 

_Heaven was making out with Joaquin DeSantos at a party._

The brown-eyed teen ran his fingers through Joaquin's hair and softly groaned when Joaquin began nipping at his jaw.

"You like that, Red?" 

Archie huffed. Joaquin knew damn well how annoying Archie found that nickname to be.

"You know I do....." Archie's smile turned a bit shy as he pressed another quick kiss to the other boy's lips.

"Yeah, I know." Joaquin laughed, leaning down again when suddenly the door got thrown open.

Cheryl Blossom appeared in the doorway. The two teenagers on the bed scrambled to get off of each other while the ginger-haired girl in question stumbled forwards. She fell face-first into her mattress and started sobbing.

"Jesus Christ......" Joaquin winced at the loud, dramatic sobbing.

"Cheryl? Are you okay?" Archie was a bit embarrassed about being caught, but was concerned for his classmate nonetheless.

 _"Noooooooo!_ I just, I just saw Veronica kissing that Polly rip-off!" Cheryl slurred out, cheeks flushed and very clearly wasted.

Damn, Archie'd never seen Cheryl Blossom drunk before. It took him a few seconds to register that Cheryl was probably talking about Betty.

"Oh, uhm.....maybe it was for a dare?" Archie meekly tried.

"No! I've seen those bitches kiss before, it's **_re-e-eaaaaal!"_** Cheryl broke down wailing again, burying her face in her pale arms.

Archie looked at Joaquin for help, but the black-haired gang member merely shrugged in response. The motherfucker was clearly entertained by the situation at hand without feeling any sympathy for the rich girl.

He awkwardly threw an arm around Cheryl's shaking shoulders, pulling her into a half-hug.

"I'm sure you'll find someone new eventually, Cheryl. You're a real catch!" Archie soothingly told her.

Cheryl looked up with watery, glossed over eyes.

"You think so?"

"Yeah, of course." Archie smiled down at her.

"Hah, no." Joaquin snorted from beside the bed.

Cheryl broke into sobbing once a-fucking-gain while Archie flipped off his insensitive boyfriend.

Joaquin took pity on the drunk girl, scratching the back of his neck somewhat apologetically.

"Y'know, my friend Toni's into confident girls. I could ask her about you, if you want? I'm pretty sure she likes you." Joaquin offered, giving Cheryl something that might've resembled a smile as she looked up at him.

"She likes me??" The Blossom slurred out.

"Yeah, she's only got eyes for you, Blossom." Joaquin confirmed.

"Oh my God, _YES!!"_ Cheryl cheered, going from super depressed to incredibly happy in mere seconds.

"Could you get some water? She probably shouldn't be wandering downstairs again like this." Joaquin curtly nodded, heading out the door to get the drink.

"Ooooh Archiekins you're such a good friend......" Cheryl clung to the fellow ginger.

Archie felt a pang of pride at the thought of Cheryl considering him a friend.

By the time Joaquin had finally pushed through the crowd of drunken teenagers, all while balancing a glass of water in one hand, Blossom had fallen asleep under her covers.

"Sorry, she fell asleep before you got back." Archie ran a hand through his soft-ass hair.

"I can see that." Joaquin dryly replied, putting the glass on Cheryl's nightstand.

"We should probably lock the door before leaving, in case any creeps try n' sneak into her room." Archie, being the golden fucking retriever he was, glanced down at Cheryl in concern.

"Just leave a note or somethin'. We'll slide the key under the door afterwards." Joaquin suggested with a shrug.

"I don't have a note."

Joaquin rolled his eyes and took out a piece of paper from his leather jacket.

"Aww, Joaquin! You actually wrote Cheryl a note? I knew you cared about her!" Archie watched his boyfriend with adoration.

"I don't. I just don't wanna get caught being a dick to Toni's future girlfriend, she'll have my ass....." Joaquin turned around in favor of avoiding Archie's knowing smirk.

"Sure, man, sure....."

"Mind yo business, Andrews."

Joaquin stuck the note to the door by putting his pocket knife into the wood. After locking the door and successfully sliding the key under it, they were finally back downstairs.

"Imagine being the host and getting wasted....." Archie thoughtfully said.

Joaquin didn't bother pointing out that a few months ago, at Jug's birthday party, Archie had been exactly in that position.

"We've been here for less than 45 minutes." Joaquin casually announced.

"Damn, how long did we make out for?" 

"10 minutes maximum."

Archie let out that stupid cackle of his and Joaquin snorted in return because it sounded so goddamn ridiculous.

"I need a drink, man....." Joaquin sighed, heading towards the kitchen.

"Or, or....." Archie turned Joaquin back around, waggling his eyebrows. "We could go to my house, my dad's working late tonight." 

Joaquin pretended to think for a moment, chewing on yet another piece of gum he fished out of his pocket. Archie observed him doing it rather intensely.

"If you make me food, maaaaaybe we can go back to making out." Joaquin concluded.

Archie narrowed his eyes in annoyance.

"I ain't putting my tongue in your mouth when you've been eating lasagna and blueberry Mentos." Archie huffed out.

"Who says I want lasagna?"

"I know you do."

Joaquin grinned.

"Then get to makin' it, bitch."


End file.
